
Pass D 2 ~ / 



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ELEMENTS 



OP 



HISTORY, 



ANCIENT AND MODERN. 



By JOSEPH E/ WORCESTER, LL. D. 



A NEW EDITION, REVISED AND ENLARGED. 



BOSTON: 
WILLIAM J. REYNOLDS & CO 

24 CORNHILL. 

1850. 



Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1849, by 

J. E. Worcester, 

in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the District of Massachusetts. 



CAMBRIDGE: 

STEREOTYPED AND PRINTED BY 
METCALF AND COMPANY, 

PRINTERS TO THE UNIVERSITY. 






PREFACE 



The first edition of this work was published in 1826, 
accompanied by an Historical Atlas. The Elements of 
History and the Atlas were designed to be used to- 
gether, each being materially incomplete without the 
other. But as it is necessary that books used in most 
of the schools in this country should be furnished at a 
very low price, the expense of the Atlas was, in many 
cases, an obstacle to the use of the work ; and after the 
Elements and Atlas had passed through a number of 
impressions, an edition of the book was prepared in 
such a form that it might be used without the Atlas. 
This was accomplished by folding in the volume the 
Chart of General History, and also by inserting a se- 
ries of Tables of History, which, in a measure, supply 
the place of the Charts or Tables of History in the 
Atlas. 

The method of using the work will be found sim- 
ple and easy. After the student has attended to the 
three short sections on the Uses, Sources, and Di- 
visions of History, it is recommended that he should 
study carefully the Chart of History, with the use of the 
Description, Illustration, and Questions. (See page 333.) 



a 



IV PREFACE. 

By this means he will have the general outlines of 
history, with the periods of the rise and fall of the 
principal states and empires, impressed on his mind ; 
and by having thus gained a comprehensive view of 
the whole ground, he will be prepared to study the 
particular parts with greater advantage. The Tables 
of Grecian, Roman, French, English, and American 
History are designed to be attended to in connection 
with the portions of the volume relating to the history 
of Greece, Rome, France, England, and the United 
States respectively. 

The outlines of history may be acquired with in- 
comparably greater facility by the use of Charts and 
Tables, than by the perusal of volumes, independently 
of such aid ; and, what is of great importance, the 
information thus obtained will be so impressed on 
the mind, as to be much more durable than if acquired 
by any other method. By means of them one may 
easily trace the rise, progress, revolutions, decline, and 
fall of states and empires ; see what states have 
been contemporary, and what have existed at differ- 
ent periods ; take comprehensive views of the whole 
ground of history, and comparative views of the par- 
ticular parts ; mark the succession of the different dy- 
nasties and sovereigns in the different kingdoms and 
empires ; learn the leading events of the several reigns 
and of different ages, and observe the periods when 
the most illustrious persons have flourished. 

But for a knowledge of the internal condition and 
history of a state, the particular details of events, with 



PREFACE. V 

their causes and consequences, and the exploits of in- 
dividuals who have figured upon the theatre of the 
world, recourse must be had to other sources of infor- 
mation. In order, therefore, that the study of history 
may be pursued to the best advantage, and a proper 
attention be paid to the connection both of time and 
of subject, the use of charts should be united with that 
of historical narrative. 

As it would be impossible, in a volume of the size 
of this, to trace a regular series of events relating to all 
the states and empires that have flourished in the 
world, the chief attention of the author has been paid 
to a few of them, — those of which the history is of the 
greatest importance, particularly to American students, 
— namely, Greece and Rome in ancient history, and 
France, England, and the United States, in modern. 
Brief notices, however, of various other states have 
been given, and also some short treatises on topics of 
importance in an introduction to the study of his- 
tory, and useful in preparing the student for the perusal 
of more extended historical works. 

In the preparation of the Elements, the author has 
endeavored to unite so much of reflection with the de- 
tails of facts, as to assist the reader in forming correct 
views of the causes and consequences of events; and 
in order to render the work more interesting, he has, in 
some instances, introduced short anecdotes and memo- 
rable observations of distinguished men on important 
occasions. 

Every one, much conversant with history, must be 



VI PREFACE. 

aware of the frequent and often great diversity in the 
accounts given of the characters of men and events, 
even by authors of reputation. This diversity is to be 
attributed partly to the peculiar principles and preju- 
dices of the historians, and partly to the contradictory 
statements in the original sources of history. 

As the line of truth is, in so many cases, obscure and 
difficult to be discovered, the author cannot hope that 
he has in no instances fallen into error. It has, how- 
ever, been his object to follow the best guides, and to 
give true impressions of the character of persons and 
transactions, so far as they came under review ; but as 
information has been derived from such a multiplicity 
of sources, it would be impossible for him, were it de- 
sirable, to give a complete enumeration of his author- 
ities. 

This little work has passed through numerous edi- 
tions, and has received a large measure of the public 
approbation and patronage. It has now been revised, 
somewhat enlarged, better fitted to be used indepen- 
dently of the Atlas, and the historical information 
'brought down to a recent date. The author hopes 
that it will be found, in its present form, less unwor- 
thy of the favor with which it has been received. 

Cambridge, December, 1849. 



CONTENTS. 



ELEMENTS OF HISTOKY. 

PAGE 

Uses of History . . . . 1 

Sources of History 3 

Divisions of History .4 

ANCIENT HISTORY. 

Egypt 7 

The Phcenicians 10 

Assyria and Babylon 11 

Persia 13 

Greece : — 

Section I. The Country and the People 15 

II. The History of Greece divided into Periods . . .16 
HI. The Fabulous Age: Foundation of Cities and Institu- 
tions: Argonautic Expedition . . . . 17 
IV. The Heroic Age: Trojan War: Return of the Heraclidse 18 
V. Sparta or Lacedsemon : Institutions of Lycurgus . 20 
VI. Athens : Codrus : Draco : Solon and his Institutions : 

Pisistratus: Pisistratidae 22 

VII. Greece invaded by the Persians under Darius : Battle 
of Marathon: Miltiades: Persian Invasion under 
Xerxes : Themistocles : Aristides : Battle of Ther- 
mopylae: Leonidas: Battles of Salamis, Plataea, 

and Mycale : Cimon 24 

VIII. Peloponnesian War : Pericles : Atcibiades : Battle of 
JEgos-Potamos : Lysander : Thirty Tyrants : Soc- 
rates: Retreat of the Ten Thousand: Peace of 
Antalcidas : Thebes : Epaminondas : Battles of Leuc- 
tra and Mantinea: Agesilaus .... 30 
IX. Philip of Macedon: Sacred War: Battle of Chsero- 
nea : Alexander the Great : Conquest of Persia : 
Battles of the Granicus, Issus, and Arbela: Alex- 
ander's Death 34 

X. Alexander's Successors: Demosthenes: Phocion: De- 
metrius Phalereus : Achaean League : Philopcemen : 
Subjugation of Macedonia and of Greece . . 40 

XI. Grecian Antiquities 44 

Chronological Table of Grecian History . • .51 
Chronological Table of Grecian Literature . . 52 

Syria under the Seleucid^e 53 

Egypt under the Ptolemies 55 



viii CONTENTS. 

Roum: — 
Station i Roman History: Foundation of Rome: Romulus: Nu- 

inn : TulluS llostiliits: Aliens Marlins: Turquiniiis 

Priscus: Servius Tullius: Tarquinius Superous, — 
expelled, and the regal Government abolished • 58 

II. '!%■ Commonwealth i • Consuls, Collatinus and Brutus: 

Valerius: Porsenna: i>ictat<>r: The Plebeians en- 
camp >>n Mons Sacer: Tribunes: Coriolanus: Law 
of volero: Cinoinnatus: The Twelve 'rubles: De- 
cemvirs Appius ( llaudius . .... 61 

III. Military Tribunes: < V'tisors : Veii destroyed ! Comil" 

ins: Rome burnt by the Gauls: Brennus: Manlius: 

The Samnitcs: Pyrrhus: Conquest of Italy . - 66 
iv. Carriage and Sicily . . . . . <>«.> 

V. First runic "War j Regulus: Second PunicWarj Han- 

nibal: Conquest of Macedonia: Third Punic War; 

Carthage destroyed: Conquest of Greece . • 70 
VL The Gracohi: Jugurtha: Social War: Mithridates : 

Mnriiis and Svlla . : Servile War: Conspiracy of 

Catiline 75 

VI 1. First Triumvirate: Civil War of Cawar and l'ompey : 
Second Triumvirate: Dissolution of the Common- 
wealth 78 

VIII. Rami under the I'hnperors : The C:csars; Augustus, 

Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius, Nero, Galba, Otho, 
Vitellius, Vespasian. Titus, and Domition . 8G 

IX. Nona: Trajan: Adrian: Antoninus Tins: Marcus 

Amelias Antoninus . . . . . . .1(1 

X. From Coinniodns [o Constantino .... 94 

xi. From Constantino to the Extinction of the Western 

Empire 90 

xu. The Kingdom of the Heruli, of the Goths^and of the 

Lombards.— The Eastern Empire, to its Extinction 99 

xm. Roman Antiquities 101 

Chronological Table of Roman History, No. i . . 108 
Chronologioal Table of Roman History, No. S . 109 
Chronological Table oi' Roman Literature . . no 

THE MIDDLE AGES in 

I'm: A It A its on Svkvokns 112 

The Fbttdal Ststsjh in 

Thb Crusadks Ill) 

ClllVAMtY 124 

MODERN HISTORY mi 

FllANOll : — 

Section i. Mwovinoian Kings: — Charlemagne, &e. . . 183 

II. OaMtian Kings i — from Hugh Capet to Philip VI. of 

Valois 136 

III. Branch of Valois: — Philip "VI. j John II. j Charles V.; 

Cl.arles VI.; Charles Vll.; Louis XI.; Charles 
VIII 139 

IV. Louis X1L; Francis I.; Henry II. ; Fronds [1.5 Charles 

IX., Henry ill . 142 

V. House <>/' Bow ton .•— Henry IV.; Louis XIII.; Louis 

XIV .147 



CONTENT! j* 

FRANCE : — 

Section VL Lows XV,; Lour- S VI ; — The Revolutiofl . 102 
vu. The Revolution continued;— Robespierre; Bonaparte; 
European rVai Bonaparte dethroned, and thejBour* 
bos Family restored . . . . . . i. r >7 

VIII Lonfi x VIII. , Churl'/-, x Revolution of 1830; Lonii 
Philippe:— Revolution of \'-'A'''. , Republican Con 
rotation; Lonii Napoleon, President . . . j ( , ( < 
Chronological Table of French History, No. I . j 7.j 
Chronological Table of French History, No. 2 . . )74 

Section I The History oi England The Roman Conquest: The 

Baaum Conquest The Heptarchy . . . 1 75 
II. From the Foundation of the Monarchy under Egbert 

to the NTorman Conquest 1 77 

in 7'A/: Norman Family t— William I > the Conqueror j Wil- 

liam n , Henry I. ; Stephen .... 130 
JV Family oj Plantagenet: Henry II, ; Richard I s Jomij 
Henry in.; Edward I ; Edward n ; Edward m ; 
Richard EL . 132 

v. Jji'in'.h. of Lancaster t Henry iv , Henry v Hen- 
ry vi. . . , , , 192 
VI Branch of York, Edward iv ; Edward v.; Richard 

in . n, 

V\\. The Tudor Family t Henry vu , Henry vm , Ed 

irard vi ; Maty; Blizaoetti , . 137 

vm. 7 r A/ ; ;>*;./« FamJy: James i , Charles i The 
Commonwealth; Cromwell: Charles n , James 
II.; (Vitliamand Mary; Anne . . 206 

IX. //'y^-.'; o/ Brunswick Qtofgi i George n , *'><■.'>'■•<■. 

HL j George IV j William I v' , Victoria . ' 221 
Table of the History oi England, ITo, 1 . . . 227 
Table of the History of England, No, 2 . . . 223 
Chronological Table oi English literature . • 22'j 
Remarks on the Tables ' S 

KuROJ'EAN fyJA'JJ-,8 23] 

Scotland 231 

GhSSHJ 2'i2 

Austria 2.'i4 

Sl'AIN 2.'J. r > 

Pow crasx 2.i7 

TjfJ. .\'/ .\ UKlLLAKhH //■/■', 

\'ui.r.:;\> 239 

Sweden 240 

J>J,N.VTAJtK 24 J 

\'a f/HSJA 242 

kr,'K8IA 24 ■'. 

BOMB 244 

'I DXKBT 24 r > 

Soreretens <A Germany, Spai eden, Prussia^ urj<i 
Rni . ' . . . . 24 7 

Nufri';'-. distinguished m Italian, French, Bpsjolrf^ Ger 
man. fee > Cueratsre . . . . , 243 

Remarks on the preceding Tabk . . . 249 



x CONTENTS. 

America. — Discovery and Settlement: — Columbus, Americus, 
Cabot, &c. : Conquest of Mexico and Peru; — Cortes, 
Pizarro, &c 251 

The United States: — 
Section I. Settlement and Early History of the Colonies : — Vir- 
ginia; New York; Colonies of New England; In- 
dian Wars; Maryland; Pennsylvania . . 259 
II. Oppressive Measures relating to the Colonies: French 
Wars ; Capture of Louisburg ; Expedition against 
New England; Conquest of Canada . . . 271 

III. Disputes between Great Britain and the Colonies ; Com- 

mencement of Hostilities ; Battles of Lexington and 
Bunker Hill ; Declaration of Independence . 277 

IV. Revolutionary War continued: — Battles of Brooklyn, 

White Plains, Trenton, Princeton, Bennington, 
Brandy wine, Germantown, Stillwater; Surrender 
at Saratoga ; Battles of Monmouth, Rhode Island, 
Camden, Cow- Pens, Guilford, Eutaw Springs ; Sur- 
render at Yorktown : — Independence acknowledged 287 
V. The Army disbanded: The Constitution formed : Wash- 
ington's Administration: Adams's Administration 298 
VI. Jefferson's Administration : Madison's Administration; 
War with Great Britain : — Monroe's Administration : 

Adams's Administration 303 

/Section VII. Jackson's Administration : Van Buren's Administra- 
tion : Harrison : — Tyler's Administration : Polk's 
Administration; War with Mexico: — Taylor . 313 
Chronological Table of the History of the United 

States "... 326 

Events of the Revolutionary War .... 327 
Chronology of Improvements .... 328 

Distinguished Americans 329 

Population of the United States .... 330 

CHART OF HISTORY — Description and Illustration . . 333 

CHRONOLOGY ... 339 

Chronological Table 341 

SACRED HISTORY 343 

Chronological Table of the Kingdoms of Israel and 
Judah . . . . . . . . 344 

Chronological Table of the Kingdom of Israel, or the 
Ten Tribes 345 

Eras in Modern History 346 

Chronological Table op Inventions 347 

QUESTIONS adapted to the Use of the Book .... 349 



ELEMENTS OF HISTORY. 



USES OF HISTORY. 

1. History is a narrative of past events. The study of it 
is attractive both to the young and the old, to the unreflecting 
and the philosophical mind. It combines amusement of the 
deepest interest; the exercise and improvement of the best 
faculties of man ; and the acquisition of the most important 
species of knowledge. 

2. History, considered merely as a source of amusement, 
has great advantages over novels and romances, the perusal 
of which too often debilitates the mind by inflaming the 
imagination, and corrupts the heart by infusing what may 
justly be regarded as moral poison. Like works of fiction, 
history serves to amuse the imagination and interest the pas- 
sions, not always, indeed, in an equal degree ; yet it is free 
from the corrupting tendencies which too often belong to 
novels, and has a great superiority over them, inasmuch as 
it rests on the basis of fact. 

3. The love of novelty and of excitement is natural to man ; 
hence the general taste for history, though its details are not 
unfrequently painful. It affords a melancholy view of human 
nature, governed by the baser passions ; and is, to a lament- 
able extent, little else than a register of human crime and 
calamity, of war and suffering. 

4. A higher use of history is, to improve the understanding 
and strengthen the judgment. It has been styled philosophy 
teaching by example ; or moral philosophy exemplified by the 
lives and actions of men. It adds to our own experience an 
immense treasure of the experience of others, and thereby 
enables us to enter upon the business of life with the advan- 
tage of being, in a manner, acquainted with it. 

1 



2 USES OF HISTORY. 

5. It makes us acquainted with human nature, and enables 
us to judge how men will act in given circumstances, and to 
trace the connection between cause and effect in human affairs. 
It serves to free the mind from many narrow and hurtful prej- 
udices ; to teach us to admire what is praiseworthy, wherever 
it may be found ; and to compare, on enlarged and liberal 
principles, other ages and countries with our own. 

6. History may be regarded as the school of politics, and, 
as such, some knowledge of it is indispensable to rulers and 
statesmen ; it is also highly important to every citizen of a re- 
public, in order to enable him to perform, in a manner honor- 
able to himself and useful to the community, the duties of a 
freeman. By history we gain our knowledge of the constitu- 
tion of society ; of the reciprocal influence of national charac- 
ter, laws, and government ; of those causes and circumstances 
which have promoted the rise and prosperity, or the decline 
and fall, of states and empires. 

7. History shows us past ages, triumphs over time, and pre- 
sents to our view the various revolutions which have taken 
place in the world. It furnishes us with the wisdom and ex- 
perience of our ancestors, exhibits their living actions, and 
enables us to profit by their successes and failures. It teaches 
us what has been done for the melioration of mankind by the 
wisdom of Greece and Rome, by modern literature and sci- 
ence, by free government, and by true religion. 

8. It tends to strengthen the sentiments of virtue. In its 
faithful delineations, vice always appears odious, and virtue 
not only desirable and productive of happiness, but also favor- 
able to true honor and solid glory. The reader of history 
learns to connect true glory, not with the possession of wealth 
and power, but with the disinterested employment of great 
talents in promoting the good of mankind. 

9. True history has numberless relations and uses as an ex- 
hibition of the conduct of Divine Providence ; and it presents 
numerous instances in which events, important to the welfare 
of the human race, have been brought about by inconsiderable 
means, contrary to the intentions of those who were the prin- 
cipal agents in them. 

10. A knowledge of history has a tendency to render us 
contented with our condition in life, by the views which it ex- 
hibits of the instability of human affairs. It teaches us that 
the highest stations are not exempt from severe trials ; that 
riches and power afford no assurance of happiness ; and that 
the greatest sovereigns have not unfrequently been more mis- 
erable than their meanest subjects. 



SOURCES OF HISTORY. 



SOURCES OF HISTORY. 

Some of the principal sources of history, independent of 
authentic records, or the narrative of those who were con- 
temporary with the events which they relate, are the follow- 
ing : — 

1. Oral tradition. From this source Herod'otus derived 
the greater part of his history. It existed before the invention 
of the arts of writing, carving, and painting. 

2. Historical poems. These are common among all barba- 
rous nations. The Iliad and Od'yssey of Homer were re- 
garded by the Greeks as of historical authority ; and they 
comprise the only history extant of what is called the heroic 
asre of Greece. 

3. Visible monuments, as pillars, heaps of stones, and mounds 
of earth, are used to perpetuate historical events among a bar- 
barous people. 

4. Ruins, as those of Egypt, and of the cities of Balbec, 
Palmy 'ra, Nin'eveh and Persep'olis, are lasting memorials of 
the power, opulence, and taste of the builders. 

5. G-iving names to countries, towns, fyc, has been used, in 
all ages, as a method of perpetuating the memory of their 
planters or founders. 

6. Coins and medals are of great use in illustrating history, 
chronology, geography, and mythology, as well as the man- 
ners and customs of the nations of antiquity. These, however, 
belong to a people of some refinement. Ancient coins have 
been found buried in the earth at various times, in consider- 
able quantities. Vast numbers are now preserved belonging 
to different ages. The most ancient of those of which the an- 
tiquity can be ascertained belong to the 5th century before the 
Christian era. 

7. Inscriptions on marbles. The most celebrated collection 
of marbles, made use of for the illustration of ancient history, 
is that which is now in the possession of the University of 
Oxford, in England, and which was brought from Greece by 
the earl of Arundel, and from him called the Arundelian 
Marbles. 

8. The most important of these inscriptions is the Chronicle 
of Paros, which contains the chronology of Athens from the 
time of Cecrops, B. C. 1582, to B. C. 264, at which latter 
period it is supposed to have been compiled. The authority 
of this Chronicle has been called in question by a number of 
learned men ; but it has been supported by many others, and 



4 DIVISIONS OF HISTORY. 

the chronology of Greece, at present most generally received, 
has been, in a great measure, founded upon it. 

9. The Hieroglyphics, Paintings, and Sculptures which yet 
remain on the ruins of Egypt and Assyria, the greater part of 
which have been but recently discovered, and only partially 
deciphered, have added largely to our knowledge of the his- 
tory, manners, and customs of the ancient inhabitants of those 
countries. 



DIVISIONS OF HISTORY. 

1. History, with respect to time, is divided into Ancient and 
Modern. 

2. Ancient History is the history of the world from the 
creation, to the establishment of the New Empire of the West 
under Charlemagne, A. D. 800. Modern History embraces 
all the time subsequent to that period. 

3. Some historians, however, adopt the Christian era, and 
others the subversion of the Western Empire of the Romans, 
A. D. 476, for the dividing point between Ancient and Modern 
History. 

4. A third division of history, which is often considered as 
distinct from ancient and modern, is that of the Middle Ages. 
This period comprises about a thousand years, from the 5th to 
the 15th century ; or from the subversion of the Western Em- 
pire of the Romans to that of the Eastern Empire. 

5. The Middle Ages embrace the time intervening between 
the extinction of ancient literature and the appearance of mod- 
ern literature. During this period Europe was sunk in igno- 
rance and barbarism ; hence it is often styled the Dark Ages. 

6. Ancient History is distinguished by the four great mon- 
archies of Assyria or Babylon, Persia, Greece or Macedonia, 
and Rome. 

7. The Middle Ages are characterized by the origin and 
progress of Mahometanism and the Saracen Empire, the preva- 
lence of the Feudal System, the Crusades, and Chivalry. 

8. Modern History is distinguished by the invention of gun- 
powder, and the consequent change in the mode of war ; the 
discoveiy of America, and the extension of commerce ; the in- 
vention of the art of printing, the revival of learning, and the 
diffusion of knowledge ; also by the reformation in religion, and 
a variety of other improvements in the state of society. — The 
last half century has been characterized by important political 



DIVISIONS OF HISTORY. 5 

revolutions and movements in society, resulting in the overthrow 
of absolute monarchies, and in the establishment of democratic 
or liberal principles of government, in place of arbitrary or 
despotic principles ; in the progress of various sciences, the 
multiplication of books and periodical publications, and a wide 
diffusion of intelligence among the masses of the people ; in 
great improvements in the mechanic arts, and the application 
of steam-power to machinery ; and in the formation of numer- 
ous benevolent societies, which have for their object the propa- 
gation of Christianity, the alleviation of the suffering, the 
amelioration of the condition and the elevation of the character 
of the human race. 

9. History, with regard to the nature of its subjects, is di- 
vided into Sacred and Profane, Ecclesiastical and Civil. 

10. Sacred History is the history contained in the Scrip- 
tures, and it relates chiefly to the Israelites or Jews. Profane 
History is the history of ancient heathen nations, and is found 
chiefly in the writings of the Greeks and Romans. Ecclesias- 
tical History is the history of the Church of Christ, or of Chris- 
tianity, from its first promulgation to the present time. Civil 
History is the history of the various nations, states, and em- 
pires, that have appeared in the world, exhibiting a view of 
their wars, revolutions, and changes. 

11. Sacred History goes back to the remotest period of time, 
and commences with an account of the creation of the world, 
which, according to the Hebrew text of the Scriptures, took 
place 4004 years before the Christian era ; according to the 
Samaritan text, 4700 ; according to the Septuagint, 5872 ; and 
according to the computation of Dr. Hales, 5411.- The com- 
putation according to the Hebrew text, which gives 4004 from 
the creation to the Christian era, and 1656 from the creation to 
the deluge, is the one commonly received in English literature, 
though the correctness of it is now generally called in question 
by learned men. 

12. The modern science of Geology, which has brought to 
light a vast number of important and interesting facts previ- 
ously unknown, has produced a conviction among men of sci- 
ence that the origin of the earth is to be ascribed to a period 
far more remote than has been heretofore supposed, and the 
most learned Christian divines have adopted a mode of inter- 
preting the Mosaic account of the creation which is in accord- 
ance with this opinion. 

13. The earliest profane historian, whose works are extant, 
is Herod'otus, who is styled the Father of History. His his- 
tory was composed about 445 years B. C, and comprises every- 
thing which he had an opportunity of learning respecting the 

1* 



6 DIVISIONS OF HISTORY. 

Egyptians, Persians, Greeks, Ionians, Lydians, Lycians, and 
Macedonians, from about the year 713 to 479 before the Chris- 
tian era. 

14. With regard, therefore, to all the preceding ages of the 
world, which, reckoning from the creation to the time when 
the narrative of Herod'otus begins, comprise, according to the 
common chronology, nearly 3300 years, there exist no docu- 
ments, with the exception of the Scriptures, really deserving 
the name of history. The accounts which have been given 
of the events of this long series of ages, comprising more than 
half of the time which has elapsed since the origin of the hu- 
man race, were drawn up by writers who lived long after the 
transactions of which they treat, and were compiled from scat- 
tered records, fragments, and traditions. 

15. Our knowledge, of course, of the early history of the 
world, the first settlement of the different portions of it, the 
primitive state of society, and the progress of mankind in the 
remotest ages, is extremely limited. The Scriptures are the 
only authentic source of information on these subjects. The 
facts which they record, though not sufficiently numerous to 
satisfy curiosity, are yet, in the highest degree, interesting and 
important. 

16. Some of the most remarkable events, previous to the 
commencement of profane history, recorded in the Bible, are 
the creation of the world, the fall of man, the deluge, the dis- 
persion of mankind at Babel, the planting of different nations, 
the call of Abraham, the deliverance of the Israelites out of 
Egypt, and their settlement in Canaan. 

17. The histories of Greece and Rome are far the best 
known, most interesting, and most important portions of 
ancient profane history. 

18. There is much obscurity hanging over the history of 
the Middle or Dark Ages. 

19. The portions of history best known are those which re- 
late to modern civilized nations, during the last three centuries. 



[ The Chart of History, which is found in this volume, 
together with the Description and Illustration, beginning 
with the 333eZ page, may now he advantageously attended to.] 



[For some remarks on Sacred History, and Tables of the 
History of the kingdoms of Israel and Judah, see pages 343, 
344, and 345.] 



EGYPT. 



EGYPT. 

1. Egypt holds a conspicuous place in history, on account 
of its great antiquity and early attainments in the arts. It has 
been styled the cradle of the sciences, and it claims the honor 
of the invention of the art of writing. At a period when 
Greece and Italy were immersed in barbarism, Egypt could 
boast of arts, learning, and civilization. It was the principal 
source from which the Greeks derived their information ; 
and, after all its windings and enlargements, we may still 
trace the stream of our knowledge to the banks of the Nile. 

2. It is a matter of regret that we have the means of ob- 
taining but little knowledge respecting the ancient history of 
Egypt. The early dynasties of the kingdom are involved in 
obscurity, and history throws little light on the building of its 
most ancient cities, or the construction of those magnificent 
monuments, which show to how high a state of improvement 
the inhabitants, at a remote period, had carried the arts, and 
which still continue to be objects of admiration and astonish- 
ment. 

3. The most celebrated of these works of ancient grandeur 
are, Lake Matrix, an immense artificial reservoir ; the Laby- 
rinth, an enormous structure of marble, built under ground ; 
the Catacombs, or Mummy-pits, subterraneous galleries, of 
prodigious extent, appropriated to the reception of the dead ; 
and the Pyramids, a wonder both of the ancient and the 
modern world. 

4. The glory of Thebes, a city of Upper Egypt, famous for 
its hundred gates, the theme and admiration of ancient poets 
and historians, belongs to a period prior to the commence- 
ment of authentic history. It is recorded only in the dim 
lights of poetry and tradition, which might be suspected of 
fable, did not such mighty witnesses to their truth remain. 

5. Before the time of Herod'otus, Memphis had supplanted 
Thebes, and the Ptol'emies afterwards removed the seat of em- 
pire to Alexandria. Strabo and Diodo'rus described Thebes 
under the name of Dios'polis, and gave such magnificent de- 
scriptions of its monuments, as caused their fidelity to be called 
in question, till the observations of modern travellers proved 
their accounts to have fallen short of the reality. 

6. The place of alphabetic writing was supplied, in ancient 
Egypt, by those rude pictures of visible objects, known by the 
name of hieroglyphics, a multitude of which are still found 
sculptured on the remains of her ancient temples, obelisks, 
and other monuments. 



8 EGYPT. 

7. The researches of Champollion, and various other learned 
men of the present century, have succeeded, to some extent, in 
deciphering these hieroglyphics. By means of this interpre- 
tation, great additions have been made to our knowledge of the 
history of Egypt and the manners and customs of its people. 

8. It appears that the Egyptians were a mixture of races, 
differing considerably in color and organization, the lower 
classes having dark skins and frizzled hair, while the upper 
ranks possessed light complexions and agreeable features. 
The predominant color of the population, however, seems to 
have been brown or yellow. The nation was divided into 
seven strictly defined hereditary castes, each of which had its 
peculiar rank and privileges. The priests and soldiers formed 
the two highest castes. Then followed the agriculturists, the 
traders, the mariners, and the artisans. The lowest caste was 
that of the shepherds, who were held in general detestation. 

9. The government was an hereditary monarchy, in which 
the power of the sovereign was limited by established forms 
and usages, and by the influence of the priestly caste. The 
Kings, or Pharaohs, as they were called, belonged exclusively 
to the caste of soldiers, until, at a late period in the decline of 
the monarchy, a priest named Sethos usurped the crown. 

10. The laws of Egypt appear to have been few, and gen- 
erally, as far as known, founded in justice. The punishments 
for crimes against the person were more severe than for crimes 
against property. Murder was punished with death, as was 
also the witnessing a murder without endeavoring to prevent 
it. A child who killed his parent was tortured, and then burnt 
alive ; while a parent who killed his child was only imprisoned 
for three days with the dead body. Debtors were not im- 
prisoned, though the creditors could seize their goods ; nor 
could a debt, without a written acknowledgment to prove it, 
be recovered at law, if the person from whom it was claimed 
denied it upon oath. 

11. Every person, not excepting the king, was, immedi- 
ately after his death, subjected to a trial, in order to determine 
whether he was worthy of funeral rites. His whole life passed 
in review, and, if pronounced virtuous, his embalmed body 
was, with various marks of honor, deposited in a sepulchre, 
which was often constructed at great expense ; but if his life 
had been vicious, or if he had died in debt, he was left un- 
buried, and was supposed to be deprived of future happiness. 

12. The Egyptians from an early period maintained a regu- 
lar standing army, a large and important portion of which con- 
sisted of warriors who fought in chariots. Their troops were 
well armed and organized, and were levied by conscription, 



EGYPT. 9 

like the armies of most countries of Europe at the present 
day. The bow was considered the national weapon, and was 
used with great force and skill by the Egyptians. 

13. The first king of Egypt known in history was Menes, 
whose capital was the city of This in Upper Egypt. Under 
his successors, the monarchy flourished for several hundred 
years until it was overthrown by an invasion of the Hyksos, a 
race of wandering shepherds, whose origin is uncertain, though 
many learned men suppose them to have been Scythians. 
The Hyksos, or Shepherd Kings, as they are sometimes called, 
held possession of the greater part of Egypt for a period vari- 
ously estimated at from two to nine centuries, at the expira- 
tion of which they were expelled by force of arms, and a na- 
tive monarch again placed on the throne. 

14. The most distinguished of the Egyptian kings was Ram- 
eses the Great, who by the Greeks was called Sesostris. He 
was a mighty conqueror, and subdued nearly the whole of 
Western Asia, with some of the adjacent countries of Europe. 
On returning from his foreign expeditions, he employed him- 
self in enlarging and beautifying the chief cities of his king- 
dom. Some of the magnificent temples and palaces which he 
erected are yet standing, and on their walls are sculptured 
representations of his principal achievements. 

15. Other celebrated kings were Osirtesen I., who is sup- 
posed by some writers to have been the Pharaoh that received 
Joseph ; Thothmes IV., in whose reign the Hyksos were finally 
expelled ; and Amenoph III., who conquered Nubia and erected 
the famous vocal statue of Memnon. 

16. The next sovereign who is particularly distinguished in 
history was Nechus, or Pharaoh- Necho. He patronized navi- 
gation, and fitted out a fleet which sailed round Africa. He 
made war upon the Medes and Babylonians, and defeated 
Josiah, king of Judah, in the battle of Megiddo. 

17. In the year B. C. 525, at the commencement of the 
reign of Psammeni'tus, the Persians, under Camby'ses, in- 
vaded Egypt, and laid siege to Pelu'sium. Taking advan- 
tage of the Egyptian superstition, the invaders placed in front 
of their army a variety of dogs, cats, and other animals, which 
were held sacred by the besieged ; and the Egyptians not 
daring to injure the sacred animals, the Persians entered Pe- 
lusium without resistance. Soon after, Camby'ses took Mem- 
phis, and reduced Egypt to a province of the Persian mon- 
archy. 

18. It was easily wrested from the sway of Persia by Alex- 
ander the Great ; after his death, it fell to the share of Ptol'e- 
my ; and under him and his successors of the same name, 



10 THE PHOENICIANS. 

Egypt regained her ancient lustre, and rose to a height in 
science and commerce which no other part of the world then 
equalled. 



THE PHOENICIANS. 

1. The Phoenicians were among the most remarkable and 
most early civilized nations of antiquity ; yet there is no com- 
plete or regular history of them extant : occasional notices of 
them, however, are found in the Scriptures, and in the Greek 
historians. Sanconi'athon, a Phoenician historian, is supposed 
by some to have flourished about the time of Joshua ; but of 
his work only a few fragments remain ; and the genuineness 
of even these is considered as very doubtful. 

2. The inhabitants of Phoenicia, who are styled Ca'naanites 
in the Scriptures, were a commercial people in the time of 
Abraham. Tyre and Sidon, their princial cities, were two of 
the most ancient we read of in history ; and, in remote ages, 
they were the most considerable seats of commerce in the 
world. 

3. The Phoenicians were the reputed inventors of glass, 
purple, and coinage ; the invention of letters has also been at- 
tributed to them, as well as to the Egyptians ; and to Cadmus 
is ascribed the honor of having first carried letters into Greece. 

4. The Phoenicians sent out a number of colonies to Cyprus, 
Rhodes, Greece, Sicily, Sardinia, and Spain ; and the founda- 
tion of Carthage is attributed to Dido, sister of Pygma'lion, 
king of Tyre, with a company of adventurers. Tyre suffered 
two i lemorable sieges and captures ; the first by Nebuchad- 
nezzar, and the second by Alexander the Great. 



•Ti 



ASSYRIA AND BABYLON. 11 



ASSYRIA AND BABYLON. 

1. Assyria, the first of the four great empires of antiquity, 
derived its name from Ashur, the son of Shem, and the re- 
puted founder of Nineveh, its chief city. The foundation of 
Babylon is ascribed to Nimrod, who was the grandson of Ham, 
and considered by many the same as the Belus of profane 
historians. These two cities are supposed to have been found- 
ed near the same time, and not long after the dispersion of 
Babel. But of their history, for many ages after their found- 
ation, very little is known with certainty, and the accounts 
given of them by ancient authors are inconsistent with each 
other. 

2. It is commonly supposed that Assyria and Babylon were 
originally distinct kingdoms, and so continued till Ninus con- 
quered Babylon, and annexed it to the Assyrian empire. Ac- 
cording to Dr. Gillies, however, only one monarchy existed at 
the same time, but divided into three great eras ; the first com- 
mencing with Nimrod, when Babylon was the seat of empire ; 
the second with Ninus, whose capital was Nineveh ; and the 
third beginning after the death of Sardanapa'lus, when Bab- 
ylon again became the metropolis. 

3. Ninus and Semir'amis are the hero and heroine of the 
old Assyrian and Babylonian chronicles ; but the account given 
of them appears to partake more of fable than of credible his- 
tory. So great is the uncertainty respecting them, that differ- 
ent historians and chronologists differ no less than a thousand 
years with regard to the time when they flourished. 

4. Ninus is represented as a great and powerful sovereign, 
and is said to have enlarged and embellished the city of Nin- 
eveh. After having made extensive conquests, he espoused 
Semir'amis, who succeeded him in the throne. She is de- 
scribed not only as surpassing all her sex in wit and beauty, 
but also as possessing unbounded ambition, and extraordinary 
talents for government and war. She enlarged Babylon, and 
rendered it the most magnificent city in the world ; and, after 
a reign of great splendor, was succeeded by her son Ninyas. 

5. From the time of Ninyas to the overthrow of the mon- 
archy, under Sardanapa'lus, a period of several centuries, 
little or nothing is known respecting the history of Assyria and 
Babylon. 

6. The name of Sardanapa'lus is almost a proverbial re- 
proach. He is said to have so degraded himself as to adopt 
the dress and occupations of a female, and to have passed his 



12 ASSYRIA AND BABYLON. 

life in the most disgraceful effeminacy and voluptuousness, in 
the company of his wives and concubines. At length Aria- 
crs, governor of Media, and Bel'esis, a priest of Babylon, dis- 
gusted with his inglorious and shameful life, excited a rebellion 
against him. After sustaining a defeat, Sardanapa'lus, in order 
to avoid falling into the hands of the conquerors, set fire to 
his palace, and burnt himself, together with his women and all 
his treasures. 

7. The empire was then divided into three kingdoms, among 
the three conspirators, Arbaces becoming king of Media, Bel'e- 
sis of Babylon, and Pul or Phul of Assyria. 

8. The successors of Pul were, 1st, Tig'lath-pi-le'ser, who 
took possession of that part of the kingdom of Israel which 
Was east of the Jordan ; 2d, Shalamane'ser, who put an end to 
the kingdom of Israel, and carried the inhabitants captive ; 
3d, Sennach'erib, who laid siege to Jerusalem, in the time of 
Hezcki'ah, but was compelled to return in disgrace, 185,000 
men of his army being destroyed in a miraculous manner in 
one night ; 4th, Esarhad'don, who defeated Manas'seh, king 
of Judah, and carried him captive to Babylon. 

9. Not long after the death of Esarhad'don, Nabopolas'sar, 
or Nebuchadncz'zar, having got possession of Babylon, being 
assisted by Ci/ax'arrs, king of Media, besieged and destroyed 
Nineveh, put an end to the Assyrian monarchy, and made 
Babylon the seat of empire. 

10. He was succeeded by his son, Nebuchadnezzar II., who 
took Jerusalem, and carried the Jews captive to Babylon. He 
had a lone; and signal reign, some particulars of which are re- 
corded in the book of Daniel. 

11. During the reign of Bclshazzar, who succeeded to the 
throne a few years after the death of Nebuchadnezzar, the 
Persians, under Cyrus, after a siege of two years, having 
turned the course of the Euphrates, entered the city through 
the dried channel, and took it while the inhabitants were en- 
gaged in feasting and riot. Belshazzar was slain, and with 
him ended the empire of Babylon. 

12. After its conquest by the Persians, Babylon gradually 
declined, until in a few centuries no vestige of its grandeur re- 
mained, and even tradition was unable to point with certainty 
to the place where it had stood. Modern European travellers 
have, however, at length clearly identified its site, which, in 
accordance with the prophecies of Scripture, has been for ages 
a howling wilderness, covered with shapeless ruins, and in- 
habited only by wild beasts and venomous reptiles. 

13. Nineveh, which, as before related, was burnt by the 
Medes, never revived from its ashes. In course of time, its 



PERSIA. 13 

ruins were entirely covered with earth, so that a few huge 
mounds, clothed with vegetation, alone marked its site. In 
1845, these mounds were explored by Layard, an English 
traveller, who discovered extensive remains of palaces and 
other edifices, which had been buried nearly 2500 years. 
He found also sculptures and inscriptions of great interest, 
which throw much light on the manners and customs of its 
inhabitants, and on some points of its history. 



PERSIA. 



1. Persia was the second of the four great empires of antiq- 
uity. Its history, prior to the reign of Cyrus the Great, is in- 
volved in obscurity and fable. It was originally called Elam, 
and the inhabitants Elamites, who were descendants of Shem. 
In the earlier ages it was of small extent ; but under the reign 
of Cyrus, who was the founder of the great Persian empire, it 
became the most powerful and extensive sovereignty on the 
globe, comprising Persia, Media, Parthia, Assyria or Babylonia, 
Syria, and Asia Minor ; and to these Egypt was added by 
Camby'ses. 

2. For the history of Persia, from the reign of Cyrus to the 
overthrow of the empire by Alexander the Great, we are in- 
debted chiefly to the Greeks. In the account of the same pe- 
riod by the writers of modern Persia, there is much of fable, 
and a total neglect of dates, and the names of the sovereigns 
are different from those given by. the Greek historians. The 
narratives of these two classes of writers differ in many mate- 
rial points. The Greek authors, though they throw a veil of 
doubt over their records by their exaggerations, especially 
where the honor of their own country is concerned, are, never- 
theless, esteemed as entitled to superior credit. 

3. Cyrus is described as possessed of great talents, both as 
a warrior and a sovereign. Having subdued all the nations 
from the iEgge'an sea to the Euphrates, he, together with his 
uncle, Cyax'ares II., king of the Medes, took Babylon, and con- 
quered the Assyrian empire. Cyax'ares dying soon after, 
Cyrus reigned sole monarch over the united kingdoms, during 
seven years ; in the first of which he published the famous edict 
for the return of the Jews and the rebuilding of Jerusalem. 

4. Herod'otus, Xen'ophon, and Cte'sias, in their accounts of 
the character and history of Cyrus, differ in many particulars. 

2 



14 PERSIA. 

That of Xen'ophon has been followed by Rollin and other mod- 
erns ; yet it is supposed to have been the design of Xen'ophon 
not to exhibit a faithful record of facts, but to delineate the 
model of a perfect prince and a well-regulated monarchy. 

5. Cyrus was succeeded by his son Camby'ses, a cruel 
tyrant, whose principal exploit was the conquest of Egypt. 
On his death, Smerdis usurped the crown ; but after a reign of 
seven months, he was assassinated, and Dari'us was elected 
sovereign. It was the army of the latter that invaded Greece, 
and was defeated at Mar'athon. The history of Persia, from 
this time till the overthrow of the monarchy, is much connected 
with that of Greece. 

6. Darius was succeeded by his son Xerxes J., who made 
the second great invasion of Greece, and suffered a series of 
defeats, with immense losses. He left the empire to his son, 
Artaxerx'es L, who had a long and peaceful reign. 

7. The other two principal sovereigns were Artaxerx'es II., 
during whose reign Xen'ophon made the famous retreat with 
10,000 Greeks, and Dari'us Codom'anus, the last sovereign of 
ancient Persia. The latter was defeated by Alexander, and 
with his death the ancient Persian empire terminated. 



Kings of Ancient Persia. 

[The figures denote the commencement of the reign of each.] 



B.C. 

536. Cyrus the Great. 

529. Cambyses. 

522. Smerdis. 

521. Darius Hystaspis. 

485. Xerxes. 

464. Artabanus. 

464. Artaxerxes I. Longimanus. 



B.C. 

425. Xerxes II. 

424. Sogdianus. 

423. Darius Nothus. 

404. Artaxerxes Mnemon. 

358. Artaxerxes III. Ochus 

337. Arses. 

336. Darius Codomanus. 



GREECE. 15 

GREECE. 

SECTION I. 

Greece — the Country and the People. 

1. Greece, the most celebrated country of antiquity, was of 
very inconsiderable extent, scarcely exceeding in size the half 
of the state of New York. It was bounded on all sides by the 
sea, except on the north, where it bordered upon Macedonia 
and Epi'rus.* Its general aspect is rugged, but its climate is 
highly propitious ; and no other country of antiquity was so 
favorably situated for holding commerce with other ancient 
nations. 

2. This country occupies but a speck on the map of the 
world, yet it fills a space in the eye of taste and philosophy 
incomparably greater than the mightiest empires that have 
overshadowed the earth. The inhabitants were renowned 
above all other ancient nations for genius, learning, and at- 
tainments in the arts ; and they have been the teachers of all 
succeeding ages. Whatever, therefore, relates to Greece, is 
rendered peculiarly interesting by numerous associations. 

3. Greece comprised numerous small, independent states, 
which were more commonly designated by the name of their 
chief city, than by that of the country or province. These 
states differed from each other in their forms of government, 
and the character and manners of the people. But, for their 
mutual defence, they were united in a confederacy by the 
council of the Amphic'tyons, as well as by a common language 
and religion, and by various public games, to which, in time of 
peace, they all resorted. 

4. The only form of government in Greece, in the early 
ages, appears to have been limited monarchy ; but, in process 
of time, monarchy was abolished, and republican forms were 
everywhere prevalent. 

5. The history of these little republics is calculated to awaken 



* Greece, in its most extensive sense, included Macedonia and Epi'rus, 
countries anciently inhabited by a people of similar origin, language, and 
religion, but not recognized by the Greeks as a part of their body, princi- 
pally on account of their less advanced civilization, and because they re- 
tained the rude monarchy of early ages, while Greece was divided into 
small republics. The Greeks also established colonies in Thrace, Asia 
Minor, Italy, Sicily, &c. ; so that they were widely spread over territories 
beyond the limits of the country which is properly styled Greece. 



16 GREECE. 

perpetual and powerful interest. They underwent many revo- 
lutions, and were frequently engaged in war with each other, 
as well as with foreign nations ; so that their history presents 
scenes continually new and shifting, and abounding in those 
strange and sudden reverses which agitate and interest the 
mind of man. 

6. Greece was called by the natives Hellas, and the inhab- 
itants Hel-le'nes ; but, by the poets, they were often called 
Dan'ai, Pelas'gi, Argi'vi, Achi'vi, AchcE'i, &c. The original 
inhabitants, generally considered as the descendants of Javan, 
the son of Japhet, were extremely barbarous, living in caves 
and huts, feeding upon acorns and berries, and clothing them- 
selves with the skins of wild beasts. 

7. In this state of hopeless barbarism was Greece, when it 
was visited by a colony of Egyptians under Cecrops, and 
also by one of Phoenicians under Cadmus, who are reputed to 
have brought to the country the first rudiments of civilization. 



SECTION II. 

The History of Greece divided into Periods. 

1. The history of Greece may be distinguished into two 
general divisions : — 1st, the period of uncertain history, ex- 
tending from the earliest accounts of the country to the first 
war with Persia, in the year B. C. 490 ; 2d, the period of au- 
thentic history, extending from the Persian invasion to the final 
subjugation of Greece by the Romans, B. C. 146. 

2. The first period, according to the most generally received 
chronology, reckoning from the foundation of Sic'yon, the 
most ancient kingdom of Greece, comprises the space of about 
1600 years. This long succession of ages is involved in ob- 
scurity and fable. There are no records relating to it that 
really deserve the name of history ; and the accounts which 
have been given of its events were drawn up by writers who 
lived long after the transactions of which they treat, and who 
possessed few materials for authentic history. 

3. This period may be distinguished into four subdivisions, 
which are marked by some peculiar historical features : the 
1st, reaching from the earliest accounts of Greece to the Tro- 
jan war, B. C. 1184, a period which may be termed, by way 
of eminence, the fabulous age; the 2d, extending from the ex- 
pedition against Troy to the death of Homer, a period gener- 
ally called the heroic age, of which the only history is con- 



GREECE. 17 

tained in the poems of the Il'iad and Od'yssey ; the 3d, com- 
prising the space of time from the death of Homer to the death 
of Lycurgus, a period which has been denominated the era of 
revolutions, of which scarcely any species of history exists ; 
the 4th, reaching from the death of Lycurgus to the first inva- 
sion of Greece by the Persians, a period which has been styled 
the era of traditionary history, possessing a considerable de- 
gree of credibility. 

4. The second general division, the period of authentic his- 
tory, extends from the first invasion of Greece by the Persians 
to its final subjugation by the Romans, a period of 344 years. 
The history of this portion is luminous, and connected beyond 
that of any other portion of pagan antiquity, having been re- 
corded by writers of the greatest ability, who were contempo- 
rary with the events which they relate, and many of whom 
bore a distinguished part in them. 

5. This period also may be divided into four parts, distin- 
guished rather by political than historical characteristics : the 
1st, reaching from the Persian invasion, B. C. 490, to the com- 
mencement of the Peloponnesian war, a period of 59 years, the 
era of Grecian unanimity and triumphs ; the 2d, extending 
from the beginning of the Peloponnesian war to the accession 
of Philip of Macedon, B. C. 360, a period of 71 years, the era 
of civil wars and intestine commotions among the states of 
Greece ; the 3d, reaching from the accession of Philip to the 
death of Alexander the Great, B. C. 324, a period of 36 years, 
distinguished by the entire ascendency of Greece, or rather of 
Mag'edon, over Persia ; the 4th, extending from the death of 
Alexander to the final subjugation of Greece by the Romans, 
B. C. 146, a period of 178 years, the era of degeneracy, turbu- 
lence, and ineffectual struggles for independence. During the 
greater part of this period, the destinies of Greece were di- 
rected by foreign influence, and were placed successively 
under the protection of Macedonia, Egypt, and Rome. 



SECTION III. 

Fabulous Age : Foundation of Cities and Institutions : 
Argonautic Expedition. 

1. The fabulous age comprises the period of the foundation 
of the principal cities, the commencement of civilization, the 
introduction of letters and the arts, and the establishment of 
the most celebrated institutions of the country. 

2* 



18 GREECE. 

2. Sic'y-on, the most ancient city, is said to have been found- 
ed by JEgi'alus ; Argos, by In'achus, the last of the Titans ; 
Ath'ens, by Ce' crops, an eminent legislator, with a colony from 
Egypt ; Thebes, by Cadmus, a Phoenician, who is said to have 
first introduced letters into Greece ; Cor'inth, by Sis'yphus ; 
Muce'na?, by Per'seus ; and Lacedce'mon, by Lelex. 

3. Some of the memorable events of this period were the 
deludes of Og'y-ges and Deuca'lion ; the institution of the 
Olym'pic, Istlvmian, Pyth'ian, and Neme'an games; of the 
laws of Minos in Crete, the court of Areop'agus, the Eleusin'- 
ian mysteries, the Oracle of Delphi, and the council of the 
Amphic'tyons. This period also embraces the marvellous ex- 
ploits of Her'cules, The'seus, and other fabulous heroes. 

4. The first great enterprise recorded of the Greeks was the 
Argonautic expedition, the account of which appears to partake 
much more of fable than of history. It was commanded by 
Jason, the son of the king of Iol'chos, accompanied by about 
fifty of the most illustrious young men of Greece : among these 
heroes were Her'cules, The'seus, Castor and Pollux, Or'pheus, 
the physician JEscula'pius, and the astronomer Chi'ron. 

5. They sailed from Iol'chos, in Thessaly, to Col'chis, on 
the eastern shore of the Euxine sea ; and they were called 
Ar'gonauts from their sailing in the ship Argo, which is said 
to have been the first sea-vessel ever built. This famous voy- 
age, which was probably a piratical expedition, is commonly 
represented to have been undertaken for the purpose of recov- 
ering the golden fleece of a ram, which originally belonged to 
their country. The fleece is pretended to have been guarded 
by bulls that breathed fire, and by a dragon that never slept. 



SECTION IV. 

The Heroic Age : Trojan War : Return of the Heraclida. 

1. The heroic age has been compared to the age of chiv- 
alry ; and there has been supposed to exist a striking resem- 
blance between the manners and sentiments of the Greeks of 
that period and those of the Gothic nations of Europe in the 
Middle Ages, except that the latter displayed more generosity 
in war, and more gentleness to the female sex, than the former. 

2. The history of the Trojan war rests on the authority of 
Homer, and forms the subject of his Iliad, the noblest poem 



GREECE. 19 

of antiquity, which presents a lively picture of the Grecian 
character and manners at this early period. , 

3. Helen, the daughter of Tyn'darus, king of Sparta, was 
reputed the most beautiful woman of her age, and her hand 
was solicited by the most illustrious princes of Greece. Her 
father bound all her suitors by a solemn oath, that they should 
abide by the choice that Helen should make of one among 
them ; and, should she be stolen from the arms of her hus- 
band, that they would all assist, with their utmost strength, to 
recover her. Menela'us was the favored individual, and, after 
his nuptials with Helen were celebrated, Tyn'darus resigned 
the crown to his son-in-law. 

4. Paris, the son of Priam, king of Troy, a powerful city 
founded by Dar'danus, having adjudged the prize for superior 
beauty to Venus, in preference to Juno and Minerva, was 
promised by her the most beautiful woman of the age for his 
wife. Soon afterward he visited Sparta, and was received 
with every mark of respect by king Menela'us ; but he abused 
the hospitality which was shown him by persuading Helen to 
elope with him to Troy, and, together with her, carried off a 
considerable treasure. 

5. This act of treachery and ingratitude produced the Tro- 
jan war : a confederacy was immediately formed by the prin- 
ces of Greece, agreeably to their engagement, to avenge the 
outrage. A fleet of about 1,200 open vessels conveyed an 
army of 100,000 men to the Trojan coast. Agamem'non, 
king of Argos, brother of Menela'us, was chosen commander- 
in-chief. Some of the other most celebrated princes", who dis- 
tinguished themselves in this war, were Achil'les, the bravest 
of the Greeks, Ajax, Menela'us, Ulys'ses, Nestor, and Dio- 
me'des. 

6. The Trojans were commanded by Hector, the son of 
Priam, assisted by Paris, Deiph'obus, Mne'as, and Sarpe'don. 
After a siege of ten years, the city was taken by stratagem, 
plundered, and burnt to the ground. The venerable king Pri- 
am was slain ; and his family was led into captivity. 

7. About eighty years after the destruction of Troy began 
the civil war of the Heracli'dce, usually called the return of 
the Heracli'dce into Peloponne'sus. 

8. Hercules, sovereign of Myce'nse, a city of Peloponne'- 
sus, was banished from his country, with all his family, while 
the crown was seized by At'reus, the son of Pelops. After 
the period of a century, the Heracli'dse, or descendants of 
Her'cules, returned to Peloponne'sus, and, having subdued 
all their enemies, took possession of the country. A part of 



20 GREECE. 

the inhabitants were reduced to slavery ; the rest, being ex- 
pelled, retired to Asia Minor, and possessed themselves of a 
country afterwards called Ionia. 

9. This revolution in Peloponne'sus not only changed the 
inhabitants and government of the country, and established 
new divisions of the Greeks, but checked the progress of the 
arts and civilization. 



SECTION V. 
Sparta or Lacedcemon : Institutions of Lycurgus. 

1. The two leading states of Greece were Athens and Spar- 
ta, the latter distinguished for military valor and discipline, 
the former for literature and the arts. Their different char- 
acters and habits were formed, in a great degree, by the in- 
stitutions of their respective legislators, Lycurgus of Sparta', 
and Solon of Athens. 

2. Sparta, or Lacedas'mon, was the capital of Laconia, in 
the southern part of Peloponne'sus. After the return of the 
Heracli'dee, its government was administered by the two sons 
of Aristode'mus, who reigned jointly, and this double monar- 
chy was transmitted to the descendants of each for many ages. 

3. Lycurgus, the celebrated Spartan legislator, was the broth- 
er of one of the kings ; and, on the death of the sovereign, he 
became protector. The government of Sparta being now in 
the greatest disorder, Lycurgus, in whom, on account of his 
great abilities and integrity, the highest confidence was re- 
posed, was intrusted with the duty of reforming the constitu- 
tion. 

4. He wrought an entire change in the form of government, 
and in the manners of the people. He instituted a senate of 
28 members, elected from the nobles. The two kings were 
continued, but were nothing more than hereditary and presid- 
ing members of the senate, generals of the army, and high 
priests of the nation. He divided the territoiy of the republic 
into 39,000 shares among all the free citizens. 

5. Commerce was abolished, the distinction of dress an- 
nihilated, the use of gold and silver prohibited, and iron 
money substituted in their place. All the citizens, not ex- 
cepting even the kings, were required to eat at the public ta- 
bles, where all luxury and excess were to be avoided, black 
broth being the principal article of food. 

6. Every citizen was to be wholly devoted to the service of 



GREECE. 21 

the state, whether in peace or war. Infants, as soon as born, 
were carefully inspected, and those that were well formed 
were delivered to public nurses ; and at the age of seven 
years, they were introduced into the public schools, where 
they were all educated on the same plan. Those that were 
deformed or sickly, were exposed to perish. 

7. Letters were taught for use, but not for ornament ; and 
the Spartans, while they were distinguished as a shrewd and 
sagacious people, were never eminent for learning ; and no 
book has been transmitted to modern times written by a gen- 
uine Spartan. DifFuseness of language and conversation was 
discountenanced, and the Lacedaemonians were noted for their 
concise or laconic speech. 

8. The young were taught especially to respect the aged, 
and to cherish an ardent love of their country ; they were 
formed to a high principle of honor, and to great sensibility 
to applause and to shame. They were early inured to hard- 
ship, were accustomed to sleep on rushes, and were supplied 
with only plain and scanty food ; but they were encouraged to 
steal whatever they could, provided they accomplished the theft 
without being detected. 

9. The institutions of Lycurgus were well adapted to im- 
press on the people a character completely artificial, by stim- 
ulating some feelings and principles to excess, and almost 
eradicating others ; but they were not calculated to promote 
either happiness or goodness. The system was, however, in- 
geniously contrived to render the Spartans a nation of soldiers ; 
by them war was considered the great business of life, and it 
was their highest ambition to be terrible to their enemies. 
The heroic virtues or qualities, such as patriotism, public spir- 
it, courage, -fortitude, and contempt of danger, suffering, and 
death, were^cherished ; while all the softer virtues and domes- 
tic affectiorlfp^ere sacrificed. 

10. Young women, as well as young men, were trained to 
athletic exercises. The manners of the Lacedaemonian women 
were loose and indelicate. They were destitute of the virtues 
which most adorn the female character, modesty, tenderness, 
and sensibility. Their education was calculated to give them 
a masculine energy ; to render them bold, hardy, and coura- 
geous ; and to fill them with admiration of military glory. 
Mothers exulted when their sons fell honorably in battle. 
" Return with your shield, or on your shield," said a Spartan 
mother to her son, when he was going to meet the enemy ; that 
is, " conquer or die." 

11. The government of Lacedae'mon acquired solidity, while 
the other states were torn by internal dissensions. For the 



22 GREECE. 

lono- period of 500 years, the institutions of Lycurgus con- 
tinued in force ; the power and influence of Sparta were felt 
throughout Greece ; and for a considerable part of that period, 
her glory eclipsed that of the other states. 

12. But in process of time, the severe manners of her war- 
riors were relaxed ; and during the administration of some of 
her later kings, changes were introduced into the laws and 
institutions, particularly in the time of Lysan'der, whose con- 
quests filled his country with wealth, and opened the sources 
of luxury and avarice. 



SECTION VI. 

Athens : Codrus : Draco : Solon and his Institutions : Pisis- 
tratus : Pisistratidce. 

1. Athens, the capital of At'tica, was the most celebrated 
city of Greece. It was distinguished for its commerce, wealth, 
and magnificence ; it was the chief seat of learning and the 
arts ; and it was the birthplace of many illustrious men. 

2. The last king of Athens was Co'drus, who, in the war 
with the Heracli'dse, sacrificed himself for the good of his 
country. After his death, the regal government was abolished, 
and the state was governed by magistrates, styled archons. 
The office was at first for life ; afterward it was reduced to 
a period of ten years ; at last it became annual, and was di- 
vided among nine persons. 

3. The first code of written laws which the Athenians pos- 
sessed was prepared by Draco, a man of stern and rigid tem- 
per. These laws punished all crimes with death ; and, on 
account of their sanguinary character, are said to have been 
written in blood. Draco being asked why he was so severe 
in his punishments, replied, that " the smallest crimes de- 
served death, and he had no higher punishment for the great- 
est." But the great severity of these laws prevented their 
being fully executed. 

4. The celebrated Solon, one of the seven wise men of 
Greece, being raised to the archonship, was intrusted with the 
care of framing for his country a new constitution, and a new 
system of laws. His disposition was mild and temporizing ; 
and he did not, like Lycurgus, endeavor to operate a total 
change in the manners of his countrymen, but attempted to 
moderate their dissensions, restrain their passions, and open 
a fair field to the growth and exercise of ability and virtue ; 



GREECE. 23 

and his system, though less original and artificial, was more 
rational and judicious. Of his laws, he said, " If they are not 
the best possible, they are the best the Athenians are capable 
of receiving." 

5. Solon vested the supreme power in an assembly of the 
people, composed of the freemen whose age exceeded 30 
3^ears. By them all laws were enacted, every public measure 
determined, all appointments made ; and to them an appeal 
lay from all courts of justice. He instituted a senate or coun- 
cil of 400, afterward increased to 500 ; restored the Areop'a- 
gus ; and divided the people into four classes, according to 
their wealth. 

6. Commerce and agriculture were encouraged ; industry 
and economy were enforced ; and ingratitude, disobedience 
to parents, and opprobrious language, were punished. The 
father who had taught his son no trade could not claim a 
support from him in his old age. The body of laws which 
Solon established has been so highly esteemed, that it has 
formed the basis of many subsequent systems of legislation. 

7. The different laws of Athens and Sparta produced, in 
process of time, a corresponding difference in the character 
and manners of the people. At Athens, the arts were in the 
highest esteem ; at Sparta, they were despised. At Athens, 
peace was the natural state of the republic, and the refined 
enjoyment of life the aim of the people. At Sparta, war was 
the great business of life, and no amusements were practised 
except such as were military or athletic. An Athenian was 
characterized by luxury ; a Spartan, by frugality : the virtues 
of the latter were more severe ; those of the former, more 
agreeable. They were both, however, equally jealous of 
liberty, and equally brave in war. 

8. Before the death of Solon, Pisis'tratus, a citizen of great 
wealth and eloquence, by courting popularity in various ways, 
found means to raise himself to the sovereign power, which 
he and his sons retained for 50 years. He exercised a munifi- 
cent and splendid dominion, encouraged the arts and sciences, 
and is said to have founded the first public library known to 
the world, and to have first collected the poems of Homer 
into one volume, which before were merely repeated in de- 
tached portions. 

9. Pisis'tratus transmitted the sovereignty to his sons Hip'pi- 
as and Hippar'chus, called the Pisistrat'idce. They governed, 
for some time, with wisdom and moderation ; but at length an 
abuse of power caused a conspiracy to be formed against them 
and their government was overthrown by Harmo'dius and 



24 GREECE. 



Aristogi'ton. Hippar'chus was slain ; and Hippias not long 
after fled to Darius, king of Persia, who was then meditating 
the conquest of Greece ; and he was afterward killed in the 
battle of Mar'athon, fighting against his countrymen. 



SECTION VII. 

Greece invaded by the Persians under Darius : Battle of 
Marathon : Miltiades : Persian Invasion under Xerxes : 
Tkemistocles : Aristides : Battle of Thermopylae : Leoni- 
das : Battles of Salamis, Platcea, and Mycale : Cimon. — 
From B. C. 490 to 431. 

1. The period from the first Persian invasion to the begin- 
ning of the Peloponnesian war is esteemed the most glorious 
age of Greece. The series of victories which the inhabitants 
obtained over the Persians are the most splendid recorded in 
history. 

2. Persia, at -this period, was far the most powerful empire 
in the world, embracing the territories included in modern 
Persia, Turkey in Asia, Egypt, a great part of Tartary, and 
part of Arabia. The Greek colonies in Asia Minor were sub- 
ject to the Persians, who had likewise made a conquest of 
Thrace: Macedonia had also acknowledged subjection; so 
that the Persian dominion extended over a large portion of the 
Grecian people, and even bordered on the country of Greece. 

3. The Asiatic Greeks made an attempt to throw off the 
Persian yoke, and were assisted by the Athenians. Darius, 
king of Persia, having reduced his revolted subjects to sub- 
mission, formed a determination, in consequence of the course 
taken by the Athenians, to make an entire conquest of Greece ; 
and in this design he was encouraged and assisted by the ex- 
iled tyrant Hippias. 

4. Darius despatched heralds to each of the Grecian states, 
demanding earth and water, as an acknowledgment of his su- 
premacy. Thebes, together with a number of the other cities, 
and most of the islands, submitted; but the Athenians and 
Lacedaemonians were so indignant, that, forgetting the laws 
of nations and of humanity, they put the heralds to death with 
the utmost ignominy. At one place they were thrown into a 
pit, at the other into a well, and told there to take their earth 
and water. 

5. Darius began his hostile attack both by sea and land. 
The first Persian fleet, under the command of Mardo'nius, 



GREECE. 25 

was wrecked in a storm, in doubling the promontory of Athos, 
with a loss of no less than 300 vessels ; a second, of 600 sail, 
ravaged the Grecian islands ; while an immense army, consist- 
ing, according to the lowest statements of the ancient histori- 
ans, of 110,000 men, commanded by Artapher'nes and Datis, 
invaded Attica. 

6. This formidable host was met on the narrow plain of 
Mar'athon by the Athenian army, greatly inferior in number 
(stated by the best authorities at from 30,000 to 40,000), under 
the command of the celebrated Milti'ades, who, availing him- 
self of an advantageous position of the ground, gained a de- 
cisive victory, and drove the routed invaders to their ships. 
The loss of the Persians was 6,300 ; that of the Athenians, 
only 192. 

7. Miltiades, by this victory, rose to the height of popularity 
and influence, which, however, he lost not long afterwards by 
a failure in an attack on the island of Paros. On his return 
from this expedition, he was accused of treason ; and though 
absolved from the capital charge, yet he was condemned to 
pay a fine of 50 talents (about 50,000 dollars). In conse- 
quence of this, he was thrown into prison, and died in a few 
days of the wounds which he received at Paros ; but the fine 
was paid by his son Cimon. 

8. The Athenians were, at this time, divided into two par- 
ties, one of which favored an aristocratical, and the other a 
democratical, form of government. The two leaders of these 
parties were the distinguished statesmen and warriors, Aristi'- 
des and Themis' lodes ; Aristides being the advocate of aristoc- 
racy, and Themistocles of democracy. 

9. Aristides, who, on account of his stern integrity, received 
the surname of the Just, was, through the intrigues of his great 
rival, banished for ten years by the ostracism. While the 
people were giving their votes for his exile, it happened that a 
citizen, who was unable to write, and did not know him per- 
sonally, brought his shell to him, and requested that he would 
write the name of Aristides upon it. " Why, what harm has 
Aristides ever done you ? " said he. " No harm at all," an- 
swered the citizen, " but 1 cannot bear to hear him continually 
called the Just.'''' Aristides smiled, and, taking the shell, wrote 
his name upon it, and quietly went into banishment ; but he 
was recalled soon after the renewal of the war. 

10. The death of Darius, and other circumstances, occa- 
sioned the discontinuance of the war for several years ; but 
Xerxes, the young Persian monarch, having ascended the 
throne, was eager to punish Athens, and subdue Greece. 
Having spent four years in preparation, he collected an army 

3 



26 GREECE. 

greater than the world ever saw, either before or since. Ac- 
cording to Herod'otus, the whole number of fighting men, in 
the army and fleet, exceeded 2,000,000 ; and, including the 
retinue of sutlers, slaves, and women, the whole multitude is 
suid to have exceeded 5,000,000. 

11. The fleet consisted of upwards of 1,200 galleys of war, 
besides a greater number of transports and smaller vessels. 
A canal, navigable for the largest galleys, was formed across 
the isthmus which joins mount Athos to the continent ; and, 
for the conveyance of the army, two bridges of boats were ex- 
tended across the Hellespont, at a point where the width is 
seven furlongs. 

12. Xerxes, having taken a station on an eminence, in order 
to gratify his vanity by viewing the vast assemblage which he 
had collected, — the earth covered with his troops, and the sea 
with his vessels, — is said to have been suddenly so much 
affected as to shed tears, upon reflecting that, in the space of one 
hundred years, not one of the many thousands would be alive. 

13. The Persian army advanced directly towards Athens, 
and this city fortunately possessed, in Themis' to cles, a leader 
of extraordinary talents, peculiarly fitted for conducting the 
arduous contest. Most of the other states united in assisting 
Athens in repelling the invaders, Sparta taking the lead ; but 
some of them submitted to the Persians. 

14. Leon'idas, king of Sparta, with a small army, undertook 
the defence of Ther?nop'ylce, a narrow mountain pass or defile 
on the coast, connecting Thessaly and Phocis. Xerxes, having 
approached this place, sent a herald to Leonidas, commanding 
him to deliver up his arms, to whom the Spartan replied, with 
laconic brevity, " Come and take them." For two days the 
Persians strove to force their way, but were repulsed with 
great slaughter ; but having, at length, discovered a by-path 
over the mountains, the defence of the pass became impossible. 

15. Leon'idas, foreseeing certain destruction, resolved, in 
obedience to a law of Sparta, which forbade its soldiers, in any 
case, to flee from an enemy, to devote his life to the honor and 
service of his country ; and, animated by his example, the 
300 Spartans under his command determined with him to abide 
the event. With the fury of men resolved to sell their lives 
at the dearest rate, they fell upon the Persian camp, and were 
all cut off, after having made a dreadful havoc of the enemy. 
Two only of the Spartans, these having been accidentally ab- 
sent, survived the battle. A monument was erected on the 
spot, bearing this inscription, written by Simon'ides : " O 
stranger ! tell it at Lacedasmon, that we died here in obedi- 
ence to her laws." 



GREECE. 27 

16. The Persians, having forced the pass of Thermopylae, 
poured down upon Attica, ravaging the country with fire and 
sword. The inhabitants of Athens, after conveying their 
women and children to the islands for security, betook them- 
selves to the fleet, abandoning the city, which the Persians pil- 
laged and burnt. 

17. Preparations w r ere now made for a great naval battle. 
The Persian fleet consisted of 1,200 galleys; that of the 
Greeks, of 300, and it was commanded by Themis' tocles and 
Aristi'des. An engagement took place in the straits of Sal- 
amis, where it was impossible for the Persians to bring their 
numerous ships regularly into action, and they were defeated 
with immense loss. The king, who had seated himself on an 
eminence to witness the battle, terrified at the result, retreated, 
with a part of his army, to his own dominions. 

18. Xerxes left Mardo'nius, with 300,000 men, to complete 
the conquest of Greece in the following summer. This army, 
which was joined by many Grecian auxiliaries, was met at 
Platce'a, early in the next season, by the combined forces of 
Athens and Lacedsemon, consisting of 110,000 men, under 
the command of Aristi'des and Pausa'nias, and was defeated 
with tremendous slaughter, Mardo'nius being killed, and the 
most of his men being slain in the battle and the subsequent 
massacre. 

19. On the same day of the great victory of Platse'a, the 
Greeks, under Leotych'ides the Lacedaemonian, and Xanlhip'- 
pus the Athenian, engaged and destroyed the Persian fleet at 
the promontory of Myc'a-le, near Ephesus. The Persian 
army was now completely destroyed. Xerxes, having been 
entirely frustrated in all his mad schemes, was soon after as- 
sassinated, and was succeeded by his son Artaxerxes Longim'- 
anus. 

20. The Persian war, however, was not yet terminated. 
The Greeks, in their turn, became the assailants and invaders. 
They undertook to defend the Ionians, who had thrown off the 
Persian yoke. The Spartans, commanded by Pausa'nias, and 
the Athenians, by Aristi'des and Ci'mon, advanced to the island 
of Cyprus, which they took, and set free ; and, having taken 
and plundered the city of Byzan'tium, they returned with im- 
mense booty. 

21. Pausa'nias, who had borne a distinguished command in 
this war, being at length intoxicated with glory and power, as- 
pired to hold, under Persia, the dominion of Greece, and, in 
a letter to Xerxes, promised to effect the subjugation of the 
country, on condition of his receiving his daughter in mar- 
riage. Being convicted by the ephori of this treason, he took 



28 GREECE. 

refuge in the temple of Minerva, where, the sanctity of the 
place securing him from violence, he was doomed to perish by 
hunger. 

22. Themis' to cles, the great Athenian commander, was ac- 
cused of participating in the treason of Pausanias, and was 
banished by the ostracism. Proceeding to Asia, he wrote a 
letter to king Artaxerxes, in which he said, " I, Themistocles, 
come to thee, who have done thy house most ill of all the 
Greeks, while I was of necessity repelling the invasion of thy 
father, but yet more good, when I was in safety, and his return 
was endangered." He was permitted to live in great splendor 
in Persia, and there died in exile, leaving an almost unrivalled 
reputation as a statesman and warrior ; but if to his great tal- 
ents he had joined an unquestionable integrity, his fame would 
have been purer. 

23. After the banishment of Themistocles, the affairs of 
Athens were, for a short time, directed by Aristi'des ; and, 
upon his death, the whole power came into the hands of Ci'- 
mon, the son of Milti'ades, one of the most illustrious statesmen 
and warriors that Greece ever produced. 

24. Cimon maintained the political influence and military 
power of Athens, conducted the war with great success, and 
gained two great victories over the Persians on the same day, 
one by sea, and the other by land, near the mouth of the 
JEuryjn'edon, in Asia Minor. 

25. A powerful party at length arose against Cimon, and 
procured his banishment by the ostracism, and Per'icles, a 
young man of noble birth, great talents, and extraordinary elo- 
quence, succeeded him in authority, 

26. But, after a banishment of five years, Cimon was re- 
called, restored to the command of the army, gained further 
important victories over the Persians, and finally died of a 
wound which he received at the siege of Citium, in Cyprus. 

27. The Persian war, which had lasted, with little intermis- 
sion, about fifty years, was now brought to a termination. Ar- 
taxerxes, finding his strength, both by sea and land, broken, 
sued for peace, which was granted on condition that he should 
give freedom to all the Grecian colonies in Asia Minor, and 
that the Persian fleets should be excluded from the Grecian 
seas. 

28. After the death of Cimon, his brother-in-law Thucyd'- 
ides, became the competitor of Per'icles for popular favor and 
authority. A war of eloquence ensued, and Thucydides, being 
worsted, was banished by the ostracism, and the lead of Pericles 
was, from this time till his death, a period of about twenty years, 
but little disputed. 



GREECE. 29 

29. He governed Athens with almost arbitrary sway, adorn- 
ed the city with master-pieces of architecture, sculpture, and 
painting, patronized the arts and sciences, celebrated splendid 
games and festivals, and his administration formed an era of 
great internal splendor and magnificence ; but he exhausted 
the public revenue, and corrupted the manners of the people. 

30. The time of the Persian war was the period of the high- 
est military glory of the Greeks, and they owed their prosperity 
to their union. But after this war had ceased, this union was 
dissolved, and the jealousies and ambitious views of the rival 
states were again revived. Athens had been rebuilt, and sur- 
rounded with a strong wall. But to this Sparta had meanly 
objected, and Athens saw with pleasure the depopulation of 
Sparta by an earthquake, in which about 20,000 lives were 
lost. Sparta also suffered greatly about this time by the insur- 
rection of the Helots, or slaves. 

31. Although the Athenians were apparently the greatest 
sufferers by the invasion, their city being burnt, and their 
country laid waste, yet they derived the greatest benefits from 
its effects. In consequence of their naval superiority, and the 
unrivalled talents of their commanders, Milti'ades, Themis' - 
tocles, Aristi'des, and Ci'mon, they reached the summit of 
political influence and military power, and attained that su- 
premacy in Greece which the Lacedaemonians had hitherto 
enjoyed. 

32. The politics of Greece, for a considerable time after the 
Persian war, turned upon the rivalry between the two leading 
republics, Athens and Lacedsemon. The former was powerful 
by sea, the latter by land. Athens was the patroness of de- 
mocracy, Lacedsemon of aristocracy. It was customary for 
the weaker states, for their security, to ally themselves with 
one of the two leading ones ; and, in most of them, there were 
two parties in continual contest, the democrats and the aris- 
tocrats : the former naturally adhered to Athens ; the latter to 
Sparta. 

33. From this period the martial and patriotic spirit began 
to decline. An acquaintance with Asia, and an importation 
of her wealth, introduced a relish for Asiatic manners and 
luxuries. With the Athenians, however, this luxurious spirit 
was under the guidance of taste and genius, and it led to the 
cultivation of the fine arts, which, during the age of Per'icles, 
were in the most flourishing state. 



30 GREECE. 



SECTION VIII. 

Peloponnesian War : Pericles : Alcibiades : Battle of 
Mgos-Potamos : Lysander : Thirty Tyrants : Socrates : 
Retreat of the 10,000 : Peace of Antalcidas : Thebes : 
Epaminondas : Battles of Leuctra and Mantinea : Agesi- 
laus. — From B. C. 431 to 360. 

1. In the latter part of the administration of Per'icles, com- 
menced the Peloponnesian War, which grew out of the long- 
continued rivalship between Athens and Sparta, and was the 
most important and celebrated war ever carried on by the 
Grecian states with each other. 

2. This contest partook, in a great degree, of the nature of 
a civil war ; and through the time of its continuance, being the 
age of Soc rates himself, was an era characterized by the high 
perfection to which the arts, philosophy, and refinement had 
been brought, yet it was carried on in a spirit of savage ferocity, 
rarely exemplified among civilized nations ; a boundless scope 
was given to ambition and party rage ; all the ties of nature 
were trampled upon, and Greece exhibited, during this period, 
a perpetual scene of conflict and calamity. 

3. The Athenians having assisted the inhabitants of Corcy'ra 
against the Corinthians, were accused by the latter of having 
thereby violated the treaty of the confederated states of Pelopon- 
ne'sus, and an appeal to arms was immediately resolved on. 

4. Sparta took the lead against Athens, and was joined by 
all the Peloponnesian states, except Argos, which remained 
neutral ; and in Northern Greece, by the Megarians, Boeotians, 
Locrians, Phocians, &c. Athens had few allies ; the principal 
were the Thessalians, Acarnanians, and several islands. The 
Peloponnesian forces, commanded by the Spartan king, Ar- 
chid'amus, amounted to 60,000, while the army of the Athe- 
nians did not exceed 32,000 ; but the navy of the latter was 
much the superior. 

5. In the first year of the war, the Lacedaemonians ravaged 
Attica, and laid siege to Athens ; in the second year, the city 
was visited by a dreadful plague, which swept away multitudes ; 
and among its victims was Pericles, who died the third year of 
the war, and at a time when his services were most wanted. 
The war, however, was not arrested by this awful calamity, 
but continued to rage for several years in a similar manner, 
and with nearly equal losses on both sides. 

6. After the death of Per'icles, Cleon, the leader of the 



GREECE. 31 

democratic party, had, for a time, the direction of the Athenian 
councils ; but he was slain at Amphip'olis, in a battle with 
Bras'idas, the Spartan general, who was also mortally wound- 
ed. After the death of Cleon, a treaty of peace was concluded 
between Athens and Sparta, by means of the influence of Ni'- 
cias, the leader of the aristocratic and pacific party. 

7. But the war was again soon renewed through the influ- 
ence of Alcibi'ades, who now took the lead in the government 
of Athens, and who was one of the most accomplished orators 
and generals of his age, but whose want of principle rendered 
his talents ruinous both to himself and his country. 

8. An expedition was sent against the island of Sicily, under 
the command of Alcibi'ades and Ni'cias ; but the former was 
accused of misconduct and recalled, and the latter totally de- 
feated and slain. Alcibiades afterward again took the com- 
mand of the army of Athens, and gained important advan- 
tages ; but he at length fell into disgrace, and was banished, 
and the chief command of the Athenian army was given to 
Conon. 

9. But Lysan'der, the ablest of the Lacedaemonian generals, 
having succeeded to the command, utterly defeated the Athe- 
nian fleet at M'gos-Pot'amos, on the Hellespont, which reduced 
Athens to the last extremity. The Lacedaemonians blockaded 
the city by land and sea, and its reduction was left to the sure 
operation of famine. 

10. The Athenians, anxious to avoid utter extermination, 
were ready to accept almost any terms of peace. They were 
spared on condition that they should demolish their port, with 
all their fortifications, limit their fleet to 12 ships, and in future 
undertake no military enterprise, except under the command 
of the Lacedaemonians. Thus the Peloponnesian war termi- 
nated by the humiliating submission of Athens, and by render- 
ing Lacedae'mon the leading power in Greece. 

11. Lysander, after the reduction of Athens, abolished the 
popular government, and substituted in its place an oligarchy 
consisting of 30 magistrates, whose power was absolute, and 
who, from their atrocious acts of cruelty, were styled the 
Thirty Tyrants. In the space of eight months, 1,500 citizens 
were sacrificed to their avarice or vengeance. At length 
Thrasybu'lus, at the head of a band of patriots, drove the 
tyrants from the seat of their abused power, and restored the 
democratical form of government. 

12. But pure democracy was far from being any security, at 
Athens, against acts of tyranny and oppression, even in the 
most enlightened age of the republic. The Athenians were 



32 GREECE. 

characterized as fickle and capricious ; and, in some of their 
proceedings, they were as unjust and cruel as the most lawless 
despots. 

13. The name of Soc'rates is at once the glory and the re- 
proach of Athens. This illustrious philosopher, who, on ac- 
count of his high moral views, is the boast of the pagan world, 
and who attempted to introduce among his countrymen worthier 
sentiments of religion, and a better understanding of the duties 
of life, was accused of corrupting the youth, and condemned 
by the assembly of Athens to die by poison. 

14. During his imprisonment, which lasted thirty days, he 
conducted himself with the greatest dignity ; refused to escape 
when opportunity offered ; conversed with his friends on topics 
of moral philosophy, particularly the immortality of the soul ; 
and, when the appointed time arrived, drank the fatal cup of 
hemlock, and died with the greatest composure. 

15. The philosophy of Socrates, which forms an important 
epoch in the history of the human mind, was wholly promul- 
gated in conversation, not in writing ; but his doctrines and 
character have been handed down to us by two of his most 
gifted pupils, Plato and Xenophon. He turned all the powers 
of his mind against the atheists, materialists, and sceptics. He 
attended but little to physical science ; he ridiculed the meta- 
physical speculations of his predecessors ; and introduced 
moral philosophy, by teaching mankind to govern their pas- 
sions, and to consider their actions and their duties. From 
this it was said of him, that he drew down philosophy from 
heaven to earth. 

16. About the end of the Peloponnesian war, the death of 
Darius left the throne of Persia to his son, Artaxerxes II. ; but 
his brother Cyrus attempted to dethrone him, and for this pur- 
pose he employed upwards of 10,000 Grecian mercenaries ; 
and after the battle of Cunaxa, near Babylon, Cyrus, and also 
the Grecian commander, were slain. The remainder of the 
Grecian army, under the command of Xen'ophon, made a re- 
treat, in which they encountered incredible difficulties and 
dangers, in traversing an enemy's country of 1,600 miles in 
extent, from Babylon to the shores of the Euxine. 

17. This celebrated return of the Greeks, usually called the 
Retreat of the Ten Thousand, is beautifully described by Xen- 
ophon, and is considered one of the most extraordinary exploits 
in military history ; but it is to be regretted that the pupil and 
biographer of Socrates should have gathered his laurels in so 
vile a trade as that of a mere hireling military adventurer. 



GREECE. 33 

18. The Greek cities of Asia having taken part with Cyrus, 
the Spartans, under their king, Agesila'us, engaged in their de- 
fence, and thus became involved in the war with the Persians. 
But the king of Persia, by means of bribes, induced Athens, 
Thebes, Corinth, and other Grecian states jealous of the Lace- 
daemonians, to join in a league against them. Agesilaus was 
obliged to return from Asia Minor to protect his own country ; 
and he defeated the confederates at Corone'a, but the Spartan 
fleet was soon after defeated by the Athenians under Conon 
near Cnidos. 

, 19. After various vicissitudes, all parties became weary of 
the war, and a treaty of peace was concluded, called the peace 
of Antal'cidas, from the Lacedaemonian who negociated it. 
The conditions were, that all the Grecian cities of Asia should 
belong to Persia, and that all the others should be completely 
independent, except that the islands of Lemnos, Scyros, and 
Imbros should remain under the dominion of Athens. 

20. While Athens and Sparta had been for some time de- 
clining, Thebes, emerging from obscurity, rose, for a short 
period, to a degree of splendor superior to that of all the other 
states. The Spartans, jealous of its rising greatness, took ad- 
vantage of some internal dissensions, and seized upon its cita- 
del ; but it was recovered, and the independence of Thebes 
was again restored by the efforts of Pelop'idas and Epaminon'- 
das, two famous Thebans, admired for their talents and ex- 
ploits, and for their faithful friendship for each other. 

21. A war between the two states ensued ; and the Theban 
army of 6,000 men, commanded by Epaminondas and Pe- 
lopidas, gained the memorable battle of Leuctra. In this 
battle, the Thebans lost only 300 men, while the Spartans lost 
4,000, together with their king, Cleom'brotus ; and it was with 
mortification and astonishment that they saw themselves defeat- 
ed by numbers greatly inferior, a thing unknown for ages. 

22. The victorious Thebans, headed by Epaminondas, and 
joined by many of the Grecian states, entered the territories 
of Lacedsemon, and overran all Laconia with fire and sword, 
to the very suburbs of the capital. This country had not been 
ravaged by a hostile army for 600 years ; and the boast of the 
inhabitants, " that never had the women of Sparta beheld the 
smoke of an enemy's camp," was now done away. 

23. The Theban commander, having completely humbled 
the power of Sparta, returned to Thebes with his victorious 
army : not long after, the war being renewed, he gained an- 
other great victory over the Lacedaemonians, commanded by 



34 GREECE. 

Agesila'us, and assisted by the Athenians, at Mantine'a ; but 
he fell mortally wounded in the moment of victory. 

24. Epaminon' das is regarded as one of the greatest char- 
acters of Greece, equally eminent as a philosopher, a states- 
man, a general, and a citizen. He raised his country to its 
highest eminence in military renown, and its power and splen- 
dor perished with him. 

25. The battle of Mantine'a was followed by a peace be- 
tween all the Grecian states, establishing the independence of 
each city. Soon afterward, the Spartans, under the command 
of Agesila'us, proceeded to Egypt, to assist Tachos, the king 
of that country, against Nectane'bus, who aspired to the throne. 
But when the Egyptians, who crowded to see the famous war- 
rior, beheld a little, deformed, lame old man, sitting on the sea- 
shore, clad in homely attire, they could scarcely conceal their 
disappointment. In consequence of some personal affront re- 
ceived from Tachos, Agesilaus deserted him, and raised his 
competitor to the throne. Having set sail for Sparta, he died 
on the coast of Egypt, leaving a high reputation as an able 
statesman and warrior. 



SECTION IX. 

Philip of Macedon : Sacred War : Battle of Charonea : 
Alexander the Great : Conquest of Persia : Battles of 
the Granicus, Issus, and Arbela : Alexanders Death. — 
From B. C. 360 to 324. 

1. After the death of Agesila'us, little occurs in the history 
of Greece deserving notice, till the appearance of Philip of 
Macedon. The several states were now in an abject condition, 
the inhabitants having greatly degenerated from the patriotism 
and valor of their ancestors. 

2. Athens, at this time the most prominent of the republics, 
was sunk in luxury and dissipation ; yet she was distinguished 
for her cultivation of literature and the arts. Sparta, weakened 
by the new independence of Peloponne'sus, and corrupted by 
the introduction of gold, had abandoned her characteristic sim- 
plicity and severity of manners, and was greatly reduced from 
her former greatness. Under these circumstances, Philip 
formed the ambitious project of bringing the whole of Greece 
under his dominion. 

3. The kingdom of Map'edo?i, or Macedonia, had existed 



GREECE. 35 

upwards of 400 years, but it had not risen to any considerable 
eminence ; it had formed no part of the Greek confederacy, 
and had had no voice in the Amphictyon'ic council. The in- 
habitants boasted of the same origin with the Greeks, but they 
had had little intercourse with the mother country, and were 
considered by the latter as barbarians. 

4. The Macedonian Empire, which was commenced by 
Philip, and completed by his son Alexander, formed the third 
great empire of antiquity. It is sometimes called the Grecian 
Empire, because Greece, in its most extensive sense, included 
Macedonia, and because all Greece was subject to Philip and 
Alexander. 

5. Philip, when only ten years old, was sent as a hostage 
to Thebes, and there enjoyed the advantage of an excellent 
Grecian education under Epaminondas. At the age of 24 
years he ascended the throne. He possessed great military 
and political talents, and was eminently distinguished for his 
consummate artifice and address. In order to accomplish his 
design of bringing all the states of Greece under his dominion, 
he cherished dissensions among them, and employed agents or 
pensionaries in each, with a view of having every public 
measure directed to his advantage. 

6. The Phocians had long cultivated a valuable tract, called 
the Cirrhgean plain, which, it was now maintained, had been, 
in a former age, consecrated to the Delphian Apollo ; and it 
was decreed, by the council of the Amphictyons, that they 
should cease to use the sacred land, under the penalty of a 
heavy fine. From this circumstance a contest arose, called 
the Sacred War, in which almost all the states of Greece took 
a part, and which was carried on with spirit for ten years. 
The Thebans, Locrians, Thessalians, and others, undertook to 
punish the Phocians, who were supported by Athens, Sparta, 
and some other states. 

7. Philip, having taken and destroyed the city of Olynthus, 
at length availed himself of the opportunity, which this war 
afforded, of bringing his power into full contact with the Gre- 
cian states. He proposed to act as arbitrator of the matter in 
dispute, and procured himself to be elected a member of the 
Amphictyonic council ; and he was afterwards styled the Am- 
phictyonic general. The Athenians, suspicious of his designs, 
refused to acknowledge the election, and, being now guided by 
the inflammatory eloquence of Demos' thenes, rather than by 
the pacific counsels of Pho'cion, they were plunged into a de- 
structive contest with their powerful rival and neighbor. 

8. A second Sacred War drew Philip again into Greece. 
The Locrians of Amphis'sa having encroached upon the con- 



36 GREECE. 

secrated ground of Delphi, and having refused to obey the 
decrees of the Amphictyonic council, Philip was invited, as 
their general, to vindicate their authority by force of arms. 
The Athenians and Thebans, roused to the utmost enthusiasm 
by Demos' thenes, united to resist the growing power of this 
ambitious monarch. The two armies met at Charone'a, and, 
after a most obstinate battle, Philip gained a decisive victory, 
which secured to him an entire ascendency in Greece. 

9. It was not the policy of the conqueror to treat the several 
states as a vanquished people. He permitted them to retain 
their separate independent governments, while he directed and 
controlled all the public measures. 

10. Philip next projected the invasion of Persia, and, con- 
voking a general council of the states, laid before them his 
design, which was highly popular, and he was chosen com- 
mander-in-chief of the united forces of all the states of Greece. 
Having made formidable preparations for his expedition, and 
being just ready for his departure, he was assassinated by a 
captain of his guards, while solemnizing the nuptials of his 
daughter. The news of Philip's death caused the most tumul- 
tuous joy among the Athenians, who indulged the vain hope of 
again recovering their liberty. 

11. Alexander, (afterward surnamed the Great,) the son of 
Philip, succeeded to the throne of Macedon, at the age of 20 
years. He had been educated by Ar'istotle, the most eminent 
philosopher of his time, and, at an early age, he gave proofs 
of a love of learning, a generous and heroic disposition, dis- 
tinguished talents, and unbounded ambition. 

12. Demosthenes exerted all his eloquence to persuade his 
countrymen to unite against the youthful king. But Alexan- 
der, having reduced to subjection some barbarous nations to 
the north of Macedon, turned the whole force of his arms upon 
Greece. The Thebans, who had risen in rebellion, were de- 
feated with great slaughter, their city razed to the ground, and 
the inhabitants, to the number of 30,000, sold for slaves. 
These dreadful acts of severity so intimidated the other states, 
that they immediately submitted to his dominion. 

13. Alexander then assembled the deputies of the Grecian 
states at Cor'inth, and renewed the proposal of invading Persia, 
then ruled by Dari'us Codom'anus, and he was appointed, as 
his father had before been, generalissimo. He had, for his 
companions in arms, Parme'nio and other officers, who had 
distinguished themselves in the wars of Philip. 

14. With an army of 30,000 foot and 5,000 horse, the sum 
of only 70 talents, and provisions merely for a single month, 



GREECE. 37 

he crossed the Hellespont, in order, with means apparently 
so inadequate, to accomplish his arduous enterprise. He first 
proceeded to the site of Ilium, or Troy, and offered sacrifices 
to the manes of the heroes who fell in the Trojan war, partic- 
ularly Achil'les, whom he pronounced to be the most fortu- 
nate of men, in having Patro'clus for his friend, and Homer 
for his panegyrist. 

15. The Persian satraps who ruled the western provinces 
of the empire met him, on the banks of the little river Grani'- 
cus, with an army of 100,000 foot, and 20,000 horse. Here 
an obstinate battle was fought, in which the Persians were 
defeated, with the loss, according to Plutarch, of 22,000 men, 
while the Macedonians lost only 34. In this battle Alexander 
escaped very narrowly with his life. Being attacked by two 
officers, one of whom was about to cleave his head with a 
battle-axe, he was preserved by Clytus, who prevented the 
blow by disabling the assailant. 

16. The consequences of this victory were important to 
Alexander, as it put him in possession of the city of Sardis, 
with all its riches ; and he soon after took Mile'tus, Halicar- 
nas'sus, and other places of importance. 

17-. The next campaign opened early in the spring, when 
the great battle of Issus was fought. The Persian army, 
stated at about 600,000 men, commanded by the king in 
person, was defeated with prodigious slaughter, no less than 
110,000 being killed, while the Macedonians lost only 450. 
The engagement took place in a narrow defile, where only 
a small part of the Persian army could be brought into action. 

18. The mother, wife, and two daughters of Darius, fell 
into the hands of the conqueror, who treated his royal cap- 
tives with the greatest delicacy and respect. Darius, hearing 
of Alexander's kindness towards his family, sent an embassy 
to him, offering, for their ransom, the sum of 10,000 talents 
(about .i£ 2,000,000 sterling), and proposing a treaty of peace 
and alliance, with the further offer of his daughter in mar- 
riage, and all the country between the Euphrates and the 
iEga3'an Sea as her dower. 

19. When the offer was laid before Alexander's council, 
Parme'nio is reported to have said, " If I were Alexander, I 
would accept the terms." " And so would I," replied Alex- 
ander, " were I Parmenio." The answer which he returned 
to the proposal imported that he had invaded Asia to avenge 
the unprovoked aggressions of the Persian monarchs ; that, if 
Darius would come to him, and ask for his wife and family, 
he would willingly deliver them to him ; but if he proposed to 
dispute the sovereignty, he would find him ready to oppose him. 

4 



38 GREECE. 

20. He next directed his course towards the rich and com- 
mercial city of Tyre, and demanded admittance into it, in 
order to perform a sacrifice to the Tyrian Her'cules. But 
the Tyrians refusing to grant it, he was so much exasperated, 
that he resolved to reduce the place, which he accomplished 
after a siege of seven months. On this occasion he exercised 
a piece of wanton cruelty, by ordering 2,000 men to be cru- 
cified, in addition to all those who were put to the sword, or 
sold into slavery. 

21. Having invested and taken the city of Gaza, which 
made an obstinate resistance, he sold 10,000 of the inhabitants 
for slaves, and dragged Be'tis, its brave defender, at the wheels 
of his chariot. 

22. Alexander next proceeded to Egypt, which was then 
subject to Persia ; but it readily submitted to his authority. 
Amidst incredible fatigues, he led his army through the deserts 
of Lybia to visit the temple of Jupiter- Ammon, and, as the 
reward of his labors, was gratified by receiving the title of 
the son of Jupiter. While in Egypt, he commenced a more 
useful and lasting monument of his greatness, by founding 
the city of Alexandria, afterward the capital of Lower Egypt, 
the seat of the Ptolemies, and, for a long time, one of the 
greatest commercial cities in the world. 

23. Returning from this romantic expedition, he received 
again advantageous proposals from Darius, who offered to sur- 
render to him his whole dominions to the west of the Euphra- 
tes ; but he haughtily rejected the offer, telling him " the 
world could no more admit two masters than two suns." 

24. Having crossed the Euphrates, with an army of nearly 
50,000 men, he met that of Darius, which is said to have 
amounted to about 700,000. A tremendous battle ensued, 
in which the Persians were entirely defeated, with a loss stated 
at 300,000 men, while that of Alexander was only about 500. 
This engagement took place near the village of Gaugame'la, 
but it is usually called the battle of Arbe'Ia, from a town 
farther distant. 

25. This great battle decided the fate of Persia, and intro- 
duced a new era into the history of the world. From that 
period, Europe has maintained the superiority over Asia, 
which was then acquired. Darius, having first escaped into 
Media, and afterwards into Bactria, was there betrayed by 
Bessus, the satrap of the province, and murdered ; and, not 
long after, the whole Persian empire submitted to the con- 
queror. 

26. Alexander, not yet satiated with conquest, penetrated 
into India v , and, in a great battle, defeated Po'rus, an illustri- 



GREECE. 39 

ous sovereign of that country. He was projecting further 
achievements, when his soldiers, seeing no end to their toils, 
refused to proceed, and demanded that they might be permit- 
ted to return to their country. 

27. Finding it impossible to overcome their reluctance, he 
returned to the Indus, whence, sending round his fleet to the 
Persian gulf under Ne-ar'chus, he marched his army across 
the desert to Persep'olis, and thence proceeded to Babylon, 
which he chose for the seat of his Asiatic empire ; and, having 
resided here some time, he was seized with a fever, brought 
on, according to some writers, by excessive drinking, and soon 
after died, in the 33d year of his age, and the 13th of his reign. 

28. Alexander was the most renowned hero of antiquity, 
surpassing all others in the rapidity, extent, and splendor of 
his conquests. Some other conquerors have shed more blood, 
and have waged war on a more cruel system ; but no one ever 
bestowed such fatal brilliancy upon the hateful lust of con- 
quest ; nor has any other person, perhaps, been the cause of 
more misery to mankind, if, to the slaughter occasioned by 
his own wars, we take into the account the influence which his 
example has had on the career of others who have made him 
their model. 

"29. His extraordinary abilities, his romantic and daring 
spirit, and the unparalleled splendor of his successes, have 
been the more mischievous, in their example, from the amia- 
ble and generous qualities which formed a part of his charac- 
ter. He possessed talents which might have rendered him 
distinguished as a statesman and a benefactor to his species ; 
yet it was to his military renown alone that he owed the sur- 
name of Great. 

30. Though, in the early part of his career, he was distin- 
guished for self-government, yet he became intoxicated by his 
extraordinary success : and his vanity, which was naturally 
excessive, being cherished by the extravagant adulations of the 
svcophants who surrounded him, he was, at length, induced 
to believe himself the son of Jupiter, and a god, that he could 
do no wrong, and that his will ought to be the supreme law 
to his subjects, With these views, he gave himself up to un- 
bounded indulgence, and to acts of the most atrocious cruelty 
and ingratitude. 

31. His most celebrated general, Parme'nio, who had as- 
sisted him in gaining all his victories, he caused to be assas- 
sinated on mere suspicion. His friend Clytus, who had saved 
his life at the Grani'cus, he ran through the body with a spear, 
because he contradicted him, when heated with wine. He 
caused the philosopher Calli.ith.enes to be put to death, with 



40 GREECE. 

the most cruel tortures, because he refused to pay him adora- 
tion as a divinity. 

32. His personal qualities and exploits were such as man- 
kind are too much inclined to admire ; and his history shows 
how easily uninterrupted success degrades the character and 
corrupts the heart; and how necessary disappointments and 
misfortunes are to teach us moderation, justice, and humanity. 



SECTION X. 

Alexanders Successors : Demosthenes : Phocion : Demetrius 
Phalereus : Achcean League : Philopcemen : Subjugation 
of Macedonia and of Greece. — From B. C. 324 to 146. 

1. Alexander named no successor, but, on his death-bed, he 
gave his ring to Perdic'cas, one of his generals ; and, upon 
being asked to whom he left his empire, he replied, " to the 
most worthy." His vast empire was soon rent in pieces by 
the greedy soldiers who had assisted him in the acquisition of 
it, and a period of confusion, bloodshed, and crime ensued, 
to which civilized nations can scarcely furnish a parallel. 

2. The generals of the army appointed Philip Aridce'us, 
the brother of Alexander, with his infant son by Roxa'na, to 
succeed him ; and Perdic'cas was made regent. The empire 
was divided into 33 governments, distributed among as many 
of the principal officers. Hence arose a series of intrigues, 
and fierce and bloody wars, which resulted in the total extir- 
pation of Alexander's family, and, after the defeat of Antig'- 
onus, one of his generals, (who had obtained possession of 
his principal dominions in Asia,) in the famous battle of Ipsus, 
in a new division of the empire into four kingdoms, namely, 
that of Egypt, under Ptol'emy ; Macedonia, including Greece, 
under Cassan'der ; Thrace, together with Bithynia, under 
Lysim'achus ; and Syria, &c, under Seleu'cus. 

3. The kingdom of Thrace lasted only till B. C. 281, when 
Lysim'achus was defeated and slain by Seleu'cus, and that of 
Macedonia till the battle of Pydna, B. C. 168. The two most 
powerful kingdoms were Syria and Egypt ; the former con- 
tinued under the sceptre of the Seleu'cidce, and the latter under 
that of the Ptolemies, till they were both annexed to the Roman 
empire. 

4. During the progress of Alexander's conquests, various 
attempts were made by the Grecian states to throw off the 



GREECE. 41 

yoke of Macedonia. The Spartans, especially, excited a 
powerful insurrection, but they were subdued by Antip'ater, 
who had been left by Alexander to govern Macedonia in his 
absence. 

5. The news of Alexander's death occasioned great joy at 
Athens, and the eloquence of Demos' thenes was again exerted 
to rouse his countrymen to secure their liberty. But he was 
still opposed by his former antagonist, the incorruptible and 
prudent Pho'don, who continued a strenuous advocate for 
peace, and whose language was, " Since the Athenians are 
no longer able to fill their wonted glorious sphere, let them 
adopt counsels suited to their abilities, and endeavor to court 
the friendship of a power which they cannot provoke but to 
their ruin." 

6. The counsels of Demosthenes prevailed so far, that the 
Greeks formed a confederacy, and made an effort to recover 
their liberty ; but they were finally defeated by Antip'ater, 
and Athens was obliged to purchase peace by the sacrifice of 
her ten chief public speakers, among whom the renowned 
orator Demosthenes was included. But he put an end to his 
life by poison, in order to avoid falling into the hands of his 
enemies. 

7. Antip'ater was succeeded, in the government of Mace- 
donia by Polysper'chon, who restored, for a short time, the 
Grecian states to independence. Athens renewed its scenes 
of turbulence, and proceeded to put to death the friends of 
Antipater, and, among others, the venerable Pho'cion, who 
was upwards of 80 years of age. He was eminent for his 
public and private virtues, and had been 45 times appointed 
governor of Athens. To a friend, who lamented his fate, he 
said, " This is no more than what I expected ; this treatment 
the most illustrious citizens of Athens have received before 
me." 

8. Polysperchon was succeeded by Cassander, who appoint- 
ed Demetrius Pliale'reus governor of Athens. Under his wise 
and beneficent government, which continued 12 years, the city 
enjoyed quiet and prosperity, and the Athenians testified their 
gratitude by erecting to him 360 statues. 

9. From this time, Athens never enjoyed anything more 
than a precarious independence. Her political power and 
greatness had ceased, and her citizens, formerly so distin- 
guished for their spirit of liberty and independence, became 
no less so for their excessive flattery and abject servility. 

10. From this period to the final subjugation of Greece by 

the Romans, the different states underwent a variety of revo- 
4 * 



42 GREECE. 

lutions ; but they present little that is interesting, and still less 
that is pleasing. An immense number of Gauls, under their 
king Brennus, ra,vaged the country ; but they were at last 
mostly cut off. 

11. Scarcely recovering from the inroads of these barbari- 
ans, the states of Peloponnesus were involved in calamities 
by the invasion of the celebrated Pyrrhus, king of Epi'rus, 
the greatest general of his age. He made an unsuccessful 
attack on Sparta, and was afterward slain, at the siege of Ar- 
gos, with a tile thrown by a woman from the top of a house. 

12. The last effort for maintaining the liberty and independ- 
ence of Greece was made by a confederacy, styled the 
Achce'an League, which was at first formed by only four small 
cities of Peloponnesus ; not long after, eight other cities joined, 
and, at last, most of the Grecian states. The government 
of this confederacy was committed to Ara'tus, with the title 
of pretor. He formed the design of establishing the independ- 
ence of all Greece, but the jealousy of some of the principal 
states rendered the scheme abortive. 

13. Aratus was succeeded by Philopce'men, a man of integ- 
rity and distinguished talents, styled " the last of the Greeks," 
because, after him, Greece produced no leader worthy of her 
former glory. Having triumphed over the Spartans and JEto- 
lians, he was taken and put to death in an expedition against 
the revolted Messenians. 

14. The Romans, who had now become the most powerful 
nation in the world, being solicited by the iEtolians to afford 
them aid against the Macedonians, readily complied with the 
request ; and their army, under the command of Quin'tius 
Flamin'ius, defeated Philip, king of Macedon, at Cy?wceph'- 
al-e, and proclaimed liberty to the Grecian states. Nearly 
30 years afterwards, a second Roman army, commanded by 
Paulus JEmil'ius, entered Greece, in a war against Per'seus, 
son of Philip, who was entirely defeated in the battle of Pydna, 
and was led captive to Rome, to grace the triumph of the con- 
queror, and Macedonia was reduced to a Roman province. 

15. The Romans, jealous of the power of the Achaean 
League, endeavored to weaken it by cherishing divisions 
among the states, and by corrupting the principal citizens. 
At length the Spartans, in a contest with the Achsean states, 
sought the aid of the Romans. Metel'lus led his legions into 
Greece, and gained a complete victory over the Achaean army. 
The remainder of the Achsean forces having shut themselves 
up in Cor'inth, the Roman consul, Mum'mius, completed the 
conquest by taking and destroying that city. The Achsean con- 



GREECE. 43 

stitution was soon after dissolved, and the whole of Greece was 
reduced to a Roman province, under the name of Acha'ia. 

16. But Greece, though subject to the Roman arms, ac- 
quired, by her arts of peace, her learning, genius, and taste, 
a silent superiority over her conquerors, and was regarded 
with respect. The most distinguished Romans were educated 
in the Grecian schools of philosophy ; Rome derived her 
learning from Athens, and the victors became the disciples of 
the vanquished. 

17. In reviewing the history of this extraordinary people, 
we see much to admire, and much also to condemn. With 
regard to genius, taste, learning, patriotism, love of liberty, and 
heroism, they were unrivalled among the nations of antiquity. 

18. In perusing the history of Athens, a circumstance which 
must forcibly impress the reader is the injustice and ingrati- 
tude which she frequently manifested towards many of her 
best citizens, her most illustrious patriots and philosophers. 
Some of the most distinguished victims of this injustice were 
Milti'ades, Aristi'des, Themis' 'to cles, Ci'mon, Pho'cion, and 
Soc'rates. These were all sentenced to death or banishment ; 
yet, not long after their condemnation, the Athenians, with 
their characteristic fickleness and inconsistency, did ample 
justice to their merit, and punished their accusers. 

19. In no period of Grecian history does there appear to 
have existed that virtuous age which many are accustomed to 
describe, more in the spirit of poetical romance, than of histor- 
ical truth. The standard both of public and private morality, 
in all the states, and at all times, was low ; and the most illus- 
trious men that figure in the history of Greece were little 
scrupulous in the choice of means for effecting their public ob- 
jects, but seemed to think it right to secure the ascendency of 
their own country, to humble a rival state, or to carry on de- 
signs of conquest, at any expense of blood or of suffering. 

20. " It is evident," says Mitford, " from the writings of 
Xenophon and Plato, that, in their age, the boundaries of 
right and wrong, justice and injustice, honesty and dishonesty, 
were little determined by any generally received principles. — 
That might gave right, especially in public transactions, was a 
tenet generally avowed." 

21. The earlier times were characterized by violence and 
rapine. In a later age, that preceding the Christian era, the 
philosophy of Epicu'rus had gained the ascendency, and the 
subtilties of scepticism, and corruption of manners, had reached 
a height of extravagance which it seemed difficult to exceed. 
The history of the world had demonstrated the necessity of 



44 GREECE. 

some better guide to man than human wisdom had been able 
to afford him, either as a member of society, or as a being 
formed for immortality. 



SECTION XI. 

Grecian Antiquities. 
Grecian Sects of Philosophy. 

Most of the ancient sects of philosophy had their origin 
among the Greeks. The most flourishing period of Grecian 
literature was in the 4th and 5th centuries B. C. 

The Ionic sect, the most ancient school of philosophy among 
the Greeks, was founded by Tha'les, who was distinguished for 
his knowledge of geometry and astronomy. 

The Italian or Pythagorean sect was founded by Pythag'- 
oras, who taught the transmigration of souls through different 
bodies. 

The Socratic school was founded by Ssc'rates, who was es- 
teemed the wisest and most virtuous of the Greeks, and the 
father of moral philosophy. 

The Cynics, a sect founded by Antis'thenes, and supported 
by Diog'enes, condemned knowledge as useless, renounced 
social enjoyments and the conveniences of life, and indulged 
themselves in scurrility and invective. 

The Academic sect was founded by Plato, a philosopher 
who has had an extensive empire over the minds of men, 
owing to the sublimity of his doctrines, and the eloquence with 
which he has propounded them. He gave his lectures in the 
groves of Acade'mus, near Athens. 

The Peripatet'ic sect was founded by Ar'istotle, who estab 
lished his school in the Lyceum at Athens. His philosophy 
predominated over the minds of men during 16 centuries. 

The Sceptical sect was founded by Pyrrho, who inculcated 
universal doubt as the only true wisdom. 

The Stoic sect was founded by Zeno. The Stoics incul- 
cated fortitude of mind, denied that pain is an evil, and en- 
deavored to raise themselves above all the passions and feel- 
ings of humanity. 

The Epicure'ans, named from their founder, Epicu'rus, held 
that man's supreme happiness consists in pleasure. 

" The Greek philosophy," says Tytler, " affords little more 
than a picture of the imbecility and caprice of the human 



GREECE. 45 

mind. Its teachers, instead of experiment and observation, 
satisfied themselves with constructing theories ; and these, 
wanting fact for their basis, have only served, to perplex the 
understanding, and retard equally the advancement of sound 
morality and the progress of useful knowledge." 

Philosophers and Poets. 

The names of the principal Greek philosophers, poets, &c, 
may be seen in the Chronological Table of Grecian Literature. 

The most illustrious of the Greek poets are Homer, the 
great epic poet ; Pindar, a lyric poet ; 2Es'chylus, Eurip'ides, 
Soph'ocles, Aristoph'anes, and Menan'der, dramatic poets. — 
The poets Homer and He'siod are supposed to have flourished 
9 or 10 centuries B. C. 

Artists and Historians. 

Phid'ias and Praxit'eles were famous statuaries ; Polyg'notus, 
Parrha'sius, Zeuxis, and Apelles, eminent painters ; Herod' - 
otus, Thucyd'ides, Xen'ophon, Polyb'ius, Diodo'rus Sic'ulus, 
and Dionysius of Halicarnassus, distinguished historians. 

_ The Seven Wise Men. 

The seven wise men of Greece were Tha'les, of Mile'tus ; 
Solon, of Athens ; Bias, of Prie'ne ; Chilo, of Lacedse'mon ; 
Pit'tacus, of Mityle'ne ; Cleobu'lus, of Lindos ; and Perian'der, 
of Cor'inth. — Instead of Perian'der, some enumerate My' son, 
and others Anachar'sis. 

The Council of the Amphictyons. 

This council is supposed to have been instituted by Am- 
phic'tyon, the son of Deucalion, king of Thes'saly, at an early 
period of the history of Greece. It was composed of deputies 
from the different states, and resembled the diet of the German 
empire. At its first institution, it is said to have consisted of 
12 deputies, from 12 different cities or states ; but the number 
of deputies was afterwards increased to 24 and to 30. They 
usually met twice a year ; in the spring at Delphi, and in the 
autumn at Thermop'yla. 

The objects of this assembly were to unite in strict amity the 
states which were represented ; to consult for their mutual 
welfare and defence ; to decide differences between cities ; to 
try offences against the laws of nations ; and also to protect 
the oracle of Delphi. 



46 GREECE. 



Oracles. 



The Greeks were in the habit of consulting oracles on all 
important occasions, — as when they were about to declare 
war, to conclude a peace, to institute a new form of govern- 
ment, or to enact laws. The most celebrated oracles were 
those of Apollo at Delphi and Delos, the oracle of Jupiter at 
Dodo'na, and that of Tropho'nius at Lebade'a. 

Public Games. 

There were four public and solemn games in Greece, — the 
Olympic, Pythian, Nemean, and Isthmian. 

The exercises practised at these games were leaping, run- 
ning, throwing, boxing, and wrestling ; also horse and chariot 
races, and contests between poets, orators, musicians, philoso- 
phers, and artists of different descriptions. 

Running was much esteemed among the ancient Greeks. 
Leaping was sometimes performed with weights in the hands, 
or upon the head or shoulders. In boxing, the combatants 
held in their hands balls of stone or lead, while their arms 
were guarded with thongs of leather. 

The Olympic games, which were instituted by Hercules, 
in honor of Jupiter Olympus, were celebrated at the town of 
Olympia, in the first month of every fifth year, and lasted five 
days. They drew together an immense concourse from all 
parts of Greece, and numbers even from foreign countries. 
No one was permitted to contend unless he had prepared him- 
self, by continual exercises, during ten months, in the public 
gymnasium at Elis. 

The contenders were obliged to take an oath that they would 
use no unlawful means to obtain the reward. The prize be- 
stowed on the victor was a crown of olive ; yet trifling as was 
this reward, it was considered as the highest honor, and was 
sought for with the utmost ef,gerness. The victor was greeted 
with loud acclamations, and his return home was in the style 
of a warlike conqueror. 

The Greeks computed their time by the celebrations of 
these games, the space intervening between one celebration 
and another being called an Olympiad. 

The Pythian games were celebrated every 5th year, in the 
second year of every Olympiad, near Delphi, in honor of 
Apollo. The victors were crowned with laurel. 



GREECE. 47 

The Ne'mean games were celebrated at the town of Ne'mea, 
every third year. The victors were crowned with parsley. 

The Isih'mian games were so called from their being cele- 
brated on the isthmus of Corinth. They were instituted in 
honor of Neptune ; observed every 3d or 5th year ; and held 
so sacred and inviolable, that a public calamity could not pre- 
vent their celebration. The victors were rewarded with a 
garland of pine leaves. 

Government of Athens. 

Classes of inhabitants. The inhabitants of Athens were 
divided into three classes ; citizens or freemen, foreigners or 
sojourners, and slaves. 

The citizens were the privileged class, and had the govern- 
ment exclusively in their hands. They were divided into 10 
tribes, but they were not limited to the city, a part of them 
residing in the small boroughs of Attica. The privilege of 
citizenship was highly esteemed, and was obtained with much 
difficulty. 

The sojourners were permitted to exercise trades in the city, 
but had no vote in the assembly, nor could they be raised to 
any office. 

The slaves or servants were the most numerous portion of 
the inhabitants of Attica. They were in a state of hopeless 
servitude, wholly at the disposal of their masters, and perform- 
ed the labor in the fields, the mines, and in private houses. 

Archons and other magistrates. The supreme executive 
power was vested in nine archons, elected annually. They 
wore garlands of myrtle, and were protected from violence 
and insult. 

The first, or chief of the nine, was called the archon, by way 
of eminence. He had the care of widows and minors through- 
out Attica, and determined all causes respecting wills. He 
was punished with death, if convicted of drunkenness while 
in office. 

The second archon, styled Bas'ileus, had the superintend- 
ence of religious ceremonies, and decided all disputes among 
priests. 

The third archon, called Pol'emarch, had originally the 
superintendence of military affairs ; but his jurisdiction was 
afterwards confined to strangers and sojourners, and to the 
appointment of games in honor of those who fell in war, and 
to the care of the education of their children. 



48 GREECE. 

The six other archons were called Thesmoth et&. They 
presided at the election of inferior magistrates, ratified public 
contracts or leagues, received complaints against persons 
guilty of various offences, and decided disputes respecting 
trade and commerce. 

The Athenian magistrates were divided into three sorts : 
1st, the Chirotone ti. who were chosen by die people, in a 
lawful assembly, in which they voted by holding up thea 
hands : 2d, the CJero ti. who, after having been approved bv 
the people, were promoted by lots drawn in the temple of The- 
seus ; 3d. the JEreti. who were extraordinary officers appointed 
by particular tribes to take care of any business. 

The poorer citizens were admitted to a share in the govern- 
ment, and might aspire to preferments ; yet the higher offices 
were generally bestowed upon the most distinguished persons. 
The candidates for office were obliged to give an account of 
their past life in the public forum. While in office, the magis- 
trates were liable to trial for an accusation of any failure in 
the discharge of their duties ; and, after their office had ex- 
pired, they were obliged to give an account of their manage- 
ment, and during 30 days every man was allowed to bring 
forward his complaint. 

Assemblies. The assemblies of the people were composed 

of all the citizens or freemen of Athens : all foreigners, slaves, 
women, children, and such persons as had received an rnfa- 
mous punishment, being excluded. Tlrev were held four times 
in 35 days : the place of meeting was the forum, the pnyx. :: 
the temple of Bacchus. 

Xo business could be transacted in an assembly containing 
less than 6.000 citizens. When the question under considera- 
tion was sufficiently discussed, the president called for a de:.-- 
ion, which was manifested by show of hands. 

Senate. The senate, which was elected annuallv, originallv 
consisted of 400, but was afterwards increase:. :: 500. I: : ; 
the business of this body to examine, with care, all matters, be- 
they were proposed to the people, and to see that nothing 
was submitted to them which was contrary to the public good. 
The senate also examined the accounts of the magistrates, 
took care of the fleet, and punished such offences as were not 
forbidden by any written law. 

Areopagus. The name of this c hich signifies liars' 1 

Hi .', was taken from the place where if was held. This was 



GREECE. 49 

the most distinguished and venerable court of justice in an- 
cient times, and took cognizance of crimes, abuses, and inno- 
:ns, either in religion or government. The Areop'agi~es 
were guardians of education and manners, and inspected the 
laws. To laugh in their assembly was an unpardonable act 
of levity. 

Ostracism. One of the most iniquitous and absurd peculiar- 
ities in the government of Athens, and some other of the Gre- 
cian tfafes, was the practice of the ostracism, a ballot of all 
the citizens, in which each wrote down the name of the indi- 
■1 mosf :~T__5.ve to him; and he who was marked out by 
the greatest number of votes, was banished from his country 
for 5. 10, or 20 years. It was not necessary that any crime 
should be alleged, and the property and honor of the exile 
remained unhurt. 

This barbarous institution was often subservient to the worst 
purposes, and stained the character of the Athenians with many 
flagrant instances of injustice and ingratitude. 

Government of Sparta. 

Classes of inhabitants. The inhabitants of Sparta consist- 
ed of citizens, and slaves or Helots. 

The citizens were divided into two classes, the Homoii. and 
the Hyvomiones ; the former alone could be elected to office ; 
the latter, consisting of the poorer citizens, were only allowed 
to vote at the elections. 

The slaves or Helots were much more numerous than the 

freemen. They performed all the servile labor in the field 

and in the house : also served as sailors in the fleet, and were 

:hed to the army, every soldier being attended by one or 

more. 

Kings. The two chief magistrates of the republic of Spar- 
ta were styled kings ; but their power was very limited. They 
presided in the senate, and were high priests of the nation. 

One of them commanded the army, while the other usually 
remained at home to administer justice. They appeared in 
public places without any retinue, and could scarcely be dis- 
tingaished from other citizens. 

Senate. The senate of Sparta consisted of the two kings and 

88 elective membeis, who were above 60 years of age, and 

retained their dignity till death. It constituted the supreme 

". of the i -. and considered all questions relating 

5 



50 GREECE. 

to peace and war, and other important affairs of state. None 
were admitted into this august assembly except such as had 
been distinguished from youth for prudence and virtue. 

Ephori. The Eph'ori were five Spartan magistrates, elect- 
ed annually by the people, and might be taken from every 
rank of citizens. It was their duty to inspect the education 
of youth, and the administration of justice. 

Assemblies. Two public assemblies met at Sparta ; one, 
called the general assembly, attended by all the freemen of 
Laconia ; the other, called the lesser assembly, composed of 
the freemen of the metropolis who were above 30 years of 
age. The general assembly was convened when questions 
relating to peace or war, or other matters of general concern, 
were to be determined. The lesser assembly was held at every 
full moon, and regulated the succession of the crown, and dis- 
cussed matters relating to government and religion. 



GRECIAN HISTORY. 51 



b. c. Chronological Table of Grecian History. 

800" 



8th 
700 

1th 

600 

6th 
500 

5th 
400 

Uh 

300 

3d 

200 

2c? 



7b First Olympiad begins. 

56 Cherops, the first Decennial Archon in Athens. 

43 First Messenian War ; — ends 724, and Ithome taken. 



85 Second Messenian War ; — ends 671, the Messenians subdued. 
84 Creon, the first Annual Archon in Athens. 
24 Draco forms his bloody code of laws for Athens. 
Solar Eclipses first calculated by Thales. 



94 Solon forms a new code of laws for Athens. 
62 Comedy and Tragedy first exhibited in Athens. 
60 Pisistratus tyrant of Athens; a splendid rule. 
60 Temples first built in Greece. 

Literature encouraged : Homer's poems collected into a vol- 
ume. 

24 Hippias and Hipparchus, the Pisistratidae, govern Athens. 
14 Hipparchus slain ; and (510) Hippias expelled. 
90 Persian War. — Victory gained by Miltiades at Marathon. 
80 Conflict of Leonidas at Thermopylae. 
80 Victory gained by Themistocles at Salamis. 
79 Victories of the Greeks at Plataa (Aristides) and Mycale. 
70 Victory gained by Cimon on the Eurymedon. 
64 Third Messenian War begins. 
45 Herodotus reads his history at the Olympic games. 
31 Peloponnesian War begins. — 430. Plague at Athens. 

5 Lysander defeats the Athenians at JEgos Potamos. 

3 The Thirty Tyrants expelled. — Philosophy and the Arts. 
Xenophons Retreat with the 10,000. Death of Socrates. 



94 Agesilaus defeats the Athenians, Thebans, &c, at Coronea. 
87 Peace of Antalcidas between the Spartans and Persians. 
71 Epaminondas of Thebes defeats the Spartans at Leuctra. 
63 Epaminondas defeats the Spartans at Mantinea. 
56 First Sacred War. — 348. Philip takes Olyntkus. 
39 Second Sacred War. — 338. Philip's victory at Chaironea. 
34 Alexander invades Persia; his victory on the Granicus. 
33 Battle of Issus. — 332. Tyre taken, and Egypt conquered. 
30 Battle of Arbela; Persia conquered. — 224. Alexander dies. 
1 Battle of Ipsus ; Alexander's empire divided. 



98 Athens taken by Demetrius Poliorcetes. 
81 The Achaean League begins ; also the JEtolian League. 
80 Greece ravaged by the Gauls under Brennus. 
73 Pyrrhus, having ravaged Greece, is killed at Argos. 
64 The Arundelian Marbles composed. 
25 Cleomenes reforms the government of Sparta. 
20 War between the Achaans, under Aratus, and the ^Etolians. 
6 The Achaans, under Philop&men, defeat the ^Etolians. 



97 Battle of Cynocephale; the Macedonians defeated by the Ro- 
mans. 

68 Battle of Pydna; the Macedonians defeated by the Romans, 
and Macedonia reduced to a Roman province. 

47 The Ach&ans defeated by the Romans under Metellus. 

46 Corinth taken by the Romans under Mummius, and Greece 
reduced to a Roman province under the name ofAchaia. 



To ascertain the date of any event mentioned in this Table, 
add the figures connected with the event to the century below. 
Thus, the first Olympiad begins 776 B. C. 



52 



GRECIAN HISTORY. 



Chronological Table of Grecian Literature. 


b. c. 
700 


States me a and 
Warriors. 


Philosophers. 


Poets and 

Artists.* 


Historians and 
Orators. 


Contemporary 
Sovereigns. 


Aristomenes 




Tyrtffius 




Numa 


7th 


Draco 




Archilochus 




Josiah 






Terpander 




Cyaxares 


600 
























Periander 


Chilo, Bias 


Alcseus 




Nebuchad- 




Solon 


Pittacus 


Sappho 




nezzar 




Zaleucus 


Cleobulus 


iEsop, Fab. 




Serv. Tullius 


6th 


Pisistratus 


Thales 


Epimenides 




Cro3sus 




Hippias 


Anacharsis 


Stesichorus 




Cyrus 




Hipparchus 


Anaximander 


Mimnermus 




Tarquin, Pr. 




Harmodius 


Xenophanes 


Thespis 




Cambyses 


500 


Aristogiton 


Anaxi menes 


Susarion 






Miltiades 


Pythagoras 


Anacreon 




Darius 




Leonidas 


Heraclitus 


Simonides 




Xerxes 




Aristides 


Melissus 


jEschylus 








Pausanias 


Zeno 


Pindar 




Hiero 


5th 


Themistocles 


Empedocles 


Phidias, Art. 




Artaxerxes L. 




Cimon 


Anaxagoras 


Cratinus 








Pericles 


Diagoras 


Eupolis 




Dionysius 




Nicias 


Meton 


Polygnotus A. 








Alcibiades 


Protagoras 


Parrhasius A. 








Critias 


Cebes 


Euripides 


Herodotus 




400 


Lysander 


SOCRATES 


Sophocles 


Georgias, Or. 




Thrasybulus 


Euclid, Meg. 


Aristophanes 


Thucydides 






Conon 


Pheedo 


Zeuxis, Art. 


Lysias, Or. 






Peiopidaa 


Antisthenes 


Euphranor, 


Ctesias 






Epaminondas 


Aristippus 


Art. 


Xenophon 


Artaxerxes 




Agesilaus 


Hippocrates 


Timotheus 


Isoc rates, Or. 


Philip 


4th 


Timoleon 


Democritue 


Lysippus, A. 


Theopompus 


Alexander 




Parmenio 


Plato 


Apelles, Art. 


Hyperides, O. 


Darius Cod. 




Perdiccas 


Diogenes 




Demosthe- 






Phocion 


Aristotle 




nes, Or. 






Polysperchon 


Pyrrho 




iEschines, 






Antigonus 


Euclid, Alex. 


Praxiteles, A. 


Or. 




300 












Demetrius 


Theophrastus 


Menander 




Lysimachus 




Antigonus G. 


Epicurus 


Theocritus 




Cassander 


3d 


Antigonus D. 


Zeno, Stoic 


Lycophroa 


Timaeus 


Seleucus I. 




Cleomenes 


Apollonius 


Aratus 


Manetho 


Ptolemy I. 




Aratus 


Arcesilaus 


Callimachus 




Pyrrhus 


200 




Archimedes 


Apollonius 




Ptolemy II. 




Eratosthenes 






Antiochus G. 


2d 


Philopcemen 


Heraclides 


Bion 




Eumenes 




Lycortas 


Carneades 


Moschus 


Polybius 


Antiochus E. 






Hipparchus 


Nicander 


Apollodorus 


Judas Mac. 


100 






















1st 



1st 








Diodorus Sic. 


Mithri dates 




Potamo 


Archias 


Dionysius H. 


Julius Csesar. 










Augustus 






Dioscorides 




Strabo, Geog. 


Vespasian 


100 

2d 














Epictetus 


Lucian, Dial. 


Plutarch, Bio. 


Trajan 






Galen, Med. 




Arrian. 


Adrian 



* The poets Homer and Hesiod are supposed to have flourished 9 or 10 centuries B. C. 



SYRIA, OR SYRO-MEDIA. 53 



SYRIA UNDER THE SELEUCIDiE. 

1. After the death of Alexander the Great, Antig'onus, one 
of his generals, obtained possession of his principal dominions 
in Asia. But Seleu'cus, another officer of Alexander, and son 
of Anti'ochus, one of Philip's generals, revolted against Antig- 
onus, and took possession of Babylon ; and by the battle of 
Ipsus, in which Antig' onus was defeated and slain, Seleu'cus 
was confirmed in his authority. He founded the kingdom of 
Syria, or Syro-Media, which, reckoning from the time of his 
taking Babylon to the period when Syria became a Roman 
province, lasted 247 years. It was governed by 23 kings, who 
were styled the Seleu'cidce, from the name of the founder. 

2. Seleucus was a great general, an able and popular sove- 
reign, and was surnamed Nica'tor or. Conqueror, on account 
of 23 battles which he gained. He founded 16 large cities, 
the most famous of which were An'tioch, Seleu'cia, Apame'a, 
and Laodice'a. Antioch, which became the capital of the 
kingdom, was a very large and splendid city, styled " The 
Queen of the East," and also " The Eye of the Christian 
Church." The disciples of Christ were here first called Chris- 
tians ; and this city, at an early period, became the seat of a 
Christian patriarch. 

3. Seleucus, having made war against Lysim'achus, king of 
Thrace, defeated and slew him in battle, but was himself soon 
after assassinated by Ptolemy Cerau'nus, who was afterwards 
king of Macedon. He was succeeded by his son Anti'ochus 
Soter, during whose reign the Gauls made an irruption into 
Asia Minor, and founded the state of Galatia. 

4. The reigns of his successors, Anti'ochus Theos and 
Seleu'cus Callini'cus, were disturbed by conspiracies and by 
wars, particularly with the Parthians and Bactrians, who re- 
volted from the government. 

5. One of the most distinguished of this race of sovereigns 
was Anti'ochus the Great, who had a long reign of 36 years, 
and was as much distinguished for his faults and misfortunes, 
as for his great qualities and successes. His reign was a 
continued warfare, presenting alternately victories and defeats. 
He subdued several governors of different provinces, who re- 
volted from him. In a war with Ptolemy, king of Egypt, after 
having gained many advantages, he lost a great battle at 
Raphia. He carried his victorious arms into Media, Parthia, 
Hyrcania, and India. 

6. Anti'ochus was visited by Han'nibal, the great Cartha- 

5* 



54 



SYRIA, OR SYRO-MEDIA. 



ginian general, who endeavored to persuade him to make war 
upon the Romans by invading Italy. Instead of this, how- 
ever, he invaded Greece, but was defeated by the Romans, 
and compelled to retire into Asia. Being pursued by a Roman 
army, commanded by Scipio Asial'icus, he was entirely de- 
feated in a great battle, on the plains of Magne' sia, and com- 
pelled to accept of peace on humiliating terms. He was after- 
wards put to death by his own officers. 

7. The next two kings were Seleu'cus Philop'ator and 
Anti'ochus Epiph'anes, sons of Antiochus the Great. The 
latter profaned and plundered the temple of Jerusalem, and 
attempted to abolish the Jewish worship. But the Jews, under 
Judas Maccabce'us, revolted, and defeated the army of Anti- 
ochus, who immediately engaged in a design to exterminate 
the whole nation ; but before he had effected anything, he 
died in a sudden and signal manner. 

8. The succeeding reigns of the Seleu'cidce exhibit a series 
of assassinations, conspiracies, and contests, till Syria was 
finally conquered by Pompey, 65 B. C, and made a Roman 
province. 



The Seleucid^e, Kings of Syria. 

[The figures denote the commencement of the reign of each.] 



B.C. 

312. Seleucus I. Nicator. 

283. Antiochus I. Soter. 

261. Antiochus II. Theos. 

246. Seleucus II. Callinicus. 

226. Seleucus III. Ceraunus. 

223. Antiochus III. the Great. 

185. Seleucus IV. Philopator. 

175. Antiochus IV. Epiphanes. 

164. Antiochus V. Eupator. 

162. Demetrius I. Soter. 

150. Alexander I. 

146. Demetrius II. Nicator. 



B.C. 

144. 
143. 
139. 
127. 
123. 
112. 

95. 

94. 

87. 



Antiochus VI. 

Tryphon. 

Antiochus VII. 

Alexander II. 

Antiochus VIII. 

Antiochus IX. 

Antiochus X. 

Antiochus XI. 

Antiochus XII. 
83. Tigranes. 
69. Antiochus XIII. 



Asiaticus de- 



posed by Pompey, 65 B. C. 



EGYPT UNDER THE PTOLEMIES. 55 



EGYPT UNDER THE PTOLEMIES. 

1. Of all the conquests of Alexander the Great, Egypt en- 
joyed the earliest and most lasting prosperity. The dynasty 
of the Ptol'emies, which, reckoning from the death of Alex- 
ander to that of Cleopa'tra, lasted 293 years, forms a conspic- 
uous period in the history of that country. 

2. Ptolemy Lagus, surnamed also Soter, was the reputed 
son of Philip, king of Macedon, by a concubine, and half- 
brother of Alexander the Great. At the time of Alexander's 
death, he was governor of Egypt , and after the division of the 
empire into four monarchies, he became king of the country, 
and had a prosperous reign of 39 years. He was a man of 
great abilities, eminent as a general and a statesman, and was 
also a man of learning, and a great patron of literature. 

3. He founded the famous library of Alexandria, establish- 
ed a museum, or academy, which became the abode of learned 
men, and erected the celebrated watch-tower of Pharos, which 
was sometimes reckoned one of the seven wonders of the world. 
He built a number of new cities, and caused decayed ones to 
emerge from their ruins, rendered the canals again navigable, 
encouraged commerce and agriculture, restored prosperity to 
Egypt, and conquered Syria. 

4. Ptolemy Soter was succeeded by his second son Ptol'e- 
my Pkiladel'phus, who followed, in a great measure, the steps 
of his father, and had a prosperous and splendid reign. He 
founded cities, erected magnificent edifices, finished the canal 
from Suez to the Nile, and promoted navigation and commerce. 
His court surpassed all others of the age as a seat of learning, 
politeness, and the arts, and was illustrated by Theoc'ritus, and 
other men of genius. During his reign, the celebrated version 
of the Old Testament into Greek, called the Sejituagint, was 
made for the use of the Jews, many of whom were, at this 
time, settled in Alexandria. 

5. Ptolemy Ever'getes, the son and successor of the pre- 
ceding monarch, was a warlike and prosperous prince, and 
likewise a patron of learning. His reign commenced with a 
severe though successful war with Anti'ochus, king of Syria. 
While absent on one of his expeditions, his queen Berenice, 
alarmed for his safety, made a vow, that, if he were restored 
to her wishes, she would consecrate her hair in the temple of 
Venus. 

6. The hair was regarded as the chief ornament of Egyp- 
tian ladies ; that of Berenice was particularly beautiful, and 



56 EGYPT UNDER THE PTOLEMIES. 

the sacrifice acquired additional value, as it was a monument 
of her affection for her husband. By some accident, the con- 
secrated locks were soon lost, and the keepers were rescued 
from punishment by the address of the astronomer Conon, who 
affirmed that Berenice's hair had been translated to the firma- 
ment, and formed a constellation in the heavens. 

7. Ptolemy Ever'getes was succeeded by his son Ptolemy 
Philop'ator, whose character was cruel and sanguinary, and 
whose reign was distinguished for an unrelenting persecution 
of the Jews. When he was at Jerusalem, he attempted to 
penetrate by force into the most holy place of the Jewish tem- 
ple, into which none but the high priest, and he only once a 
year, was permitted to enter. Being forcibly prevented from 
committing this sacrilege, he returned to Egypt, frantic with 
rage, and resolved to wreak his vengeance on the Jewish 
people, who had enjoyed many indulgences under his prede- 
cessors. 

8. He published a decree requiring all the Jews within his 
dominions to abjure their religion, and worship the gods of 
Egypt ; but only about 900 were so base as to apostatize. He 
then commanded all the Jews in Alexandria to assemble in 
the Hip'podrome, or place of public diversion, where he col- 
lected 500 elephants for the destruction of this devoted people. 
But the enraged animals rushed upon the crowd of spectators, 
and crushed more of them to death than of the Jews ; yet 
about 40,000 of the latter are said to have been slain in the 

cit y- 

9. The reigns of the first three Ptolemies, which comprised 
about a century, formed far the most prosperous part of the 
dynasty. Most of the other reigns were unhappy, abounding 
in crimes and calamities. 

10. The Egyptian kings of the name of Ptolemy were most 
of them distinguished by a surname, by which they were in 
some manner characterized : 1st, Ptolemy Soter, or Savior, 
so named by the Rhodians, in gratitude for the protection 
which he afforded them ; 2d, Ptolemy Philadelphus, or Lover 
of his Brother, so called, in derision, because he caused his 
two brothers to be put to death ; 3d, Ptolemy Ever'getes, or 
Benefactor, so styled because he restored to Egypt the idols 
which had been carried away by Camby'ses ; 4th, Ptolemy 
Philop'ator, or Lover of his Father, so named, in derision, 
because he was supposed to have put his father to death ; 5th, 
Ptolemy Epiph'anes, or Illustrious, so styled, though his reign 
was weak and inglorious ; 6th, Ptolemy Philome'ter, or Lover 
of his Mother, so called, in derision, on account of his hatred 
of his mother ; 7th, Ptolemy Physcon, or Big-bellied, so named 



EGYPT UNDER THE PTOLEMIES. 



57 



from his deformity ; 8th, Ptolemy Lath'yrus, or Chick-pea, so 
called from an excrescence on his nose like a pea ; 9th, Ptol- 
emy Aule'tes, or Flute-player. 

11. The last was Ptolemy Dionysius, who succeeded to 
the throne at the age of 13 years. He had for his queen his 
sister, the celebrated Cleopa'tra, who, having caused him to 
be murdered, assumed the sole government. Her history is 
connected with that of Julius Caesar and Mark Antony. 
She finally caused herself to be bitten by an asp, in order 
to avoid being led captive to Rome, to grace the triumph of 
Octavius. After her death, Egypt became a Roman province, 
30 B. C. 

12. The queens of the Ptolemies were, according to the 
usage of the country, for the most part, their sisters ; and their 
names were Arsin'o'e, Berenice, and Cleopa'tra. Several of 
them were women distinguished for their talents and accom- 
plishments. 



The Ptolemies, Kings of Egypt. 

[The figures denote the commencement of the reign of each.] 



B C . 

323. Ptolemy 
263. Ptolemy 
246. Ptolemy 
221. Ptolemy 
204. Ptolemy 
180. Ptolemy 
145. Ptolemy 
117. Ptolemy 



Lagus. 

Philadelphia. 

Evergetes. 

Philopator. 

Epiphanes. 

Philometer. 

Physcon. 

Lathyrua. 



B.C. 

101. Ptolemy Alexander. 
81. Cleopatra. 
80. Ptolemy Alexander II. 
65. Ptolemy Auletes. 

Berenice. 
51. Ptolemy and Cleopatra. 
48. Cleopatra II., the last 
reign, died 30 B. C. 



58 ROME. 

ROME. 

SECTION I. 

Ro?nan History : Foundation of Rome : Romulus : Xuma : 
Tidlus Hostiliu-s : Ancus Martius : Tarquiniu-s Priscus : 
Sei'uiu-s Tullius : Tarquinius Superbus, — expelled, and the 
regal government abolished. — From B. C. 753 to 509. 

1. In the delineation of ancient history, Rome, the last of 
the four great empires of antiquity, becomes, after the con- 
quest of Greece, the leading object of attention. It rose grad- 
ually from small beginnings to almost universal empire, sur- 
passing, in the extent of its dominions, in military power, and 
in the stability and strength of its government, all the great 
sovereignties that had preceded it. Its history is fruitful in 
great events and illustrious personages : and from it statesmen 
and philosophers, of different periods and countries, have drawn 
facts to support their respective speculations and theories. The 
history of this empire, in its progress and decline, involves a 
collateral account of all other nations of antiquity, which, in 
those periods, are particularly deserving of attention. 

'■2. During the reign of the kings, and the early years of the 
republic, the Roman territories extended only about 15 or "-20 
miles around the capital ; and, for about 400 years after the 
foundation of the city, the commonwealth was oi very limited 
extent. It then made a rapid progress towards universal do- 
minion ; and. about 50 years before the Christian era. it had 
reduced to its authority almost all the civilized world. This 
universal empire continued till the 5th century, when it began 
to be broken; and, towards the end oi that century, the IT/: - 
em Empire became extinct. The Eastern Empij'C subsist d 
till about the middle of the 15th century, when Constantinople 
was taken by the Turks. 

3. The early history of the Remans, like that of other an- 
cient nations, is mixed with fable, and what has been exten- 
sively received as an authentic account of the early ages is far 
from being entitled to full credit. That a considerable mixture 
of riction must be blended with the history of the first three or 
four centuries, will appear more than probable when we con- 
sider, that the earliest writer on Roman affairs, whose works 
are extant, flourished nearly 600 years after the foundation of 
the city ; that the Romans were not a literary people till the 
time of the conquest of Greece ; that, :. : : ording to their writ- 



ROME. 59 

ers, the records and monuments of their earlv history were 
destroyed when the city was burnt by the Gauls, B. C. 390 ; 
and that many of the narratives, relating to the early times, 
have much more the air of fable than of credible history. 

4. The length of time comprised in the reigns of the seven 
kings of Rome is justly regarded as a circumstance calculated 
to throw a veil of doubt over the accuracy of the account given 
of them. Of these kings, three or four died a violent death, 
and one was expelled ; yet the average length of their reigns 
was about 35 years, nearly twice as great as the common 
average length of reigns in those kingdoms whose histories are 
most accurately known. 

5. It may be remarked, with regard to those Roman His- 
tories which treat copiously of the early ages, that although 
this portion of them may contain much that is true, yet the 
evidence on which it rests is too slender to command implicit 
belief, especially with respect to such narratives or statements 
as are in themselves highly improbable. We can bv no 
means place the account of Romulus and that of Julius Ccesar 
on the same footing, with respect to authentic narrative. The 
historv, indeed, not onlv of the foundation of the monarchv 
and also of the seven kings of Rome, but likewise of the early 
ages of the commonwealth, contains obviously an intermixture 
of fable or legendary stories : and the narrative may be re- 
garded as often disguised by the national vanity of the Romans. 

6. According to me poets, JEne'as, a Trojan prince, who 
escaped from the burning of Troy, after a variety of adven- 
tures, arrived in Italy, where he was hospitably received bv 
Lati'nus, king of the Latins, whose daughter he married, and 
whom he succeeded in the throne. The succession is said to 
have continued in his family nearly 400 years, till the time of 
Nubmtor, the 15th king in a direct line from ^Ene'as. 

7. Rhea Sylvia, the daughter of Nu'mitor, was the mother 
of the twin brothers, Rom'ulus and Remus. The two brothers 
founded a city ; but, having quarrelled with each other for the 
sovereignty, Romulus slew Remus, and proceeded with the 
building of the city, which he called, from his own name, 
Rome. He was elected king, made the new city an asylum 
for fugitives, and, by stratagem, at a public festival, his sub- 
jects seized and carried off the Sabine women for wives. 

8. Romulus is said to have divided his people into three 
tribes, each tribe consisting of 10 curia ; and into two orders, 
patricians and plebeians. He instituted a senate of 100 mem- 
bers, afterwards increased to 200. These were at first always 
chosen from the patricians, but the plebeians afterwards acquir- 
ed an equal right to that dignity. In order to attach the two 



60 ROME. 

classes, patricians and plebeians, to each other, by mutual bonds, 
he established the connection of patron and client. Each 
plebeian had the right of choosing a patrician for his patron, 
whose duty it was to protect him from oppression, and who re- 
ceived from his client certain services. 

9. The king was attended by 12 lictors, with fasces, and 
had a guard of 300 horsemen, called cel'eres eq'uites, or 
knights. 

10. Numa Pompil'ius, a Sabine, was elected the second 
king of Rome. He was a native of the town of Cures, whose 
inhabitants were styled Qidri'tes, a term afterwards applied to 
Roman citizens. Numa is represented as studious, virtuous, 
and pacific ; and the Romans are said to have received great 
benefits from his government. He softened their fierce and 
warlike dispositions, by cherishing the arts of peace, obedience 
to the laws, and respect for religion. He built the temple of 
Janus, which was open during war, and closed during peace. 

11. Tullus Hostil'ius, the third king of Rome, was of a 
warlike disposition. His reign is memorable for the romantic 
story of the combat between the Hora'tii and Curia'tii, who 
were six in number, sons of two sisters, three at a birth. The 
Horatii fought for Rome, and the Curiatii for Alba. One of 
the Horatii survived, all the rest being slain ; and, by this vic- 
tory, the Romans became masters of Alba. 

12. Ancus Mar'tius, the fourth king, was the grandson of 
Numa. He conquered the Latins, and built the port of Os'tia, 
at the mouth of the Tiber. 

13. Tarquin'ius Prisms, or Tarquin the Elder, the son of 
a merchant from Corinth, was elected successor of Ancus 
Martius. He embellished the city with works of utility and 
magnificence, built the walls of hewn stone, erected the circus, 
or hip'podrome, founded the Capitol, and constructed the cloa'- 
ccb, those immense common sewers, or aqueducts, which con- 
veyed into the Tiber the rubbish and superfluous waters of the 
city. 

14. Ser'vius Tul'lius, the son of a captive female slave, and 
son-in-law of Tarquin, secured his election to the vacant throne 
by his own address and the intrigues of his mother-in-law. He 
established the census, by which, at the end of every fifth year, 
the number of citizens, their dwellings, number of children, 
and amount of property, were ascertained. The census was 
closed by a lustrum, or expiatory sacrifice ; hence the period 
of five years was called a lustrum. 

15. Servius had two daughters, of whom the elder was gen- 
tle and submissive, and the younger haughty and ambitious. 
In order to secure the throne, he married them to the two sons 



ROME. 61 

of Tarquin, the late king, whose names were Tarquin and 
Aruns, and whose different dispositions corresponded to those 
of his daughters. But he took care to cross their tempers by 
giving the elder to Tarquin, who was violent, and the younger, 
Tullia, to Aruns, who was mild, hoping they would correct 
each other's defects. But Tarquin and Tul'lia soon murdered 
their consorts, married each other, and then caused Servius to 
be assassinated. Tarquin usurped the throne, and Tullia, in 
her eagerness to salute him as king, is said to have driven her 
chariot over the dead body of her father. 

16. Tarquin, surnamed the Proud, (in Latin, Tarquin 1 ius 
Super' bus,) began his reign by putting to death the chief sen- 
ators, and governing in the most arbitrary manner; but, by 
his tyranny and cruelty, he soon disgusted all classes of his 
subjects. Sextus, his son, having entered the house of Colla- 
ti'nus, a nephew of Tarquin, under the mask of friendship, did 
violence to his wife Lucre'tia, a woman distinguished for her 
beauty and domestic virtues. The unhappy Lucretia imme- 
diately sent for her husband and father, who came, bringing 
with them Junius Brutus, a grandson of Tarquin the Elder, 
and other friends. To them she related her mournful story, 
enjoining upon them to avenge her injury ; and, being unable 
to survive her dishonor, plunged a dagger into her bosom, and 
expired. 

17. Her corpse was carried to the public square ; the ven- 
geance of the people was roused ; and, by the strenuous exer- 
tions of Brutus, the senate pronounced a sentence of perpetual 
banishment against Tarquin and his family. The tyrant, 
being expelled from his capital, and abandoned by his army, 
was never able to gain a readmission into the city ; and the 
regal government was abolished,' after having continued 244 
years. 



SECTION II. 

The Commonwealth : Consuls, Collatinus and Brutus : Vale- 
rius : Porsenna : Dictator : The Plebeians encamp on 
Mons Sacer : Tribunes : Coriolanus : Law of Volero : 
Cincinnatus : The Twelve Tables : Decemvirs : Appius 
Claudius. — From B. C. 509 to 449. 

1. The regal authority being abolished, a republican form 

of government was established in its stead; The supreme 

power, as heretofore, belonged to the senate and people ; but, 

instead of a regent for life, two consuls were chosen annually, 

6 



62 ROME. 

from the patrician families, as presidents of the republic, and 
chief directors of affairs. Their power was nearly the same 
as that of the kings, except that it was limited to one year. 
The first consuls were Bru'lus and Collati'nus, who had taken 
so distinguished a part in the expulsion of the tyrants. 

2. Tarquin was now in Etruria, where he prevailed upon 
two of the most powerful cities, Ve'ii and Tarquin'ii, to es- 
pouse his cause. He had also numerous partisans in Rome, 
particularly among the young patricians, who preferred the 
luxuries and splendor of a royal court to the simplicity and 
austerity of a republic. A plot was formed to open the gates 
to receive him, and, upon its being discovered, Brutus had the 
mortification to find his two sons among the conspirators. They 
were brought to trial before himself; he condemned them to 
be beheaded in his presence, and witnessed the shocking spec- 
tacle with a steady look and an unaltered countenance. " He 
ceased to be a father," says an ancient author, " that he might 
execute the duties of a consul, and chose to live childless 
rather than to neglect the public punishment of a crime." 

3. The insurrection in the city being suppressed, Tarquin 
relied wholly upon external aid, and raised an army in order to 
regain the crown ; but he was defeated by the Romans under 
the command of the consuls, Vale'rius (who was elected in 
place of Collatinus) and Brutus. In this battle Brutus was 
killed, and the Roman matrons honored his memory by wear- 
ing mourning for him a whole year. Vale'rius, after the vic- 
tory, returned to the city, and was the first Roman who enjoyed 
the splendid reward of a triumph. 

4. Valerius having become arrogant from the honors which 
he had received, his popularity began to decline ; and, with a 
view to recover it, he proposed a law, termed, from him, the 
Valerian law, which granted to a citizen, condemned by a 
magistrate, the right of appealing to the people. This gave 
the first blow to the aristocracy in the Roman republic. 

5. For 13 years after the expulsion of Tarquin, the Romans 
were involved in continual hostilities on his account. Of these, 
the most remarkable was the war with the Etrurians, under 
their king Porsen'na ; a war fertile in exploits of romantic he- 
roism, and signalized by the daring intrepidity of Hora'tius 
Co'cles, who, alone, arrested the progress of the enemy at the 
head of a bridge, and of Mutius Scav'ola, who entered the 
enemy's camp in disguise, with a design to assassinate Por- 
senna ; but hostilities were finally terminated by an amicable 
arrangement between the two parties. 

6. Dangers from domestic disorders were soon added to 
those of war. Tarquin had induced the Latins to enlist in his 



ROME. 63 

cause, and approached the city with his army. The plebeians, 
being poor, and oppressed with debt, complained of their 
grievances, and refused to aid in repelling the enemy, unless 
the senate would grant them relief, by remitting their debts to 
the rich. The consuls found their authority of no avail, as 
the Valerian law gave to any condemned citizen the right of 
appealing to the people. 

7. An extraordinary measure was now necessary ; and a 
new magistrate was created, styled dictator, who was to con- 
tinue in office only as long as the danger of the state required, 
never exceeding the space of six months, and was vested with 
absolute power. He was appointed only in cases of public 
exigency_, when quick and decisive measures were necessary. 
He had authority to make peace and war, to levy taxes, to ap- 
point all public officers, and to dispense with the laws, without 
consulting the senate or people. Titus Lar'tius, one of the 
consuls, being elevated to this high office, raised a large army, 
and, by his firmness and moderation having restored tran- 
quillity, resigned the dictatorship. War having been again ex- 
cited by the Tarquins, Posthu'mius was appointed dictator ; the 
Romans were completely victorious, and the sons of Tarquin 
were slain. 

8. After the death of the Tarquins, and the return of peace, 
Rome was disturbed by domestic dissensions, and the dispute 
between the creditors and debtors was again revived. On an 
alarm of war, the plebeians refused to take up arms in defence 
of the republic. Their language was, " Of what consequence 
is it to us whether our chains are forged by our enemies or our 
fellow-citizens. Let the patricians, since they alone have the 
reward of victories, encounter the dangers of war." At length, 
finding no relief from their oppressions, the whole army aban- 
doned their officers, withdrew from Rome, and encamped upon 
Mons Sacer, about three miles from the city. Here they were 
soon joined by the greater part of the people. 

9. This resolute procedure had the desired effect. The 
senate, being alarmed, deputed ten of the most respectable of 
their order, with authority to grant a redress. Mene'nius 
Agrip'pa, one of the senators, is said to have related, in his 
speech to the people, with great effect, the celebrated fable of 
the belly and the members. A reconciliation was brought 
about. The debts of the plebeians were abolished, and, for 
their future security, they were allowed the right of choosing, 
from their own order, magistrates, styled trib'myes, who should 
have the power of annulling, by a single veto, every measure 
which they should judge prejudicial to their interest. The 
tribunes were elected annually ; their number at first was five, 



64 ROME. 

afterwards increased to ten. By them the aristocracy was held 
within bounds, and the fury of the populace was regulated. 
Two magistrates, styled cediles, were appointed to assist the 
tribunes, and to take charge of the public buildings. 

10. The neglect of agriculture, which had arisen from the 
revolt of the army, brought on a famine, which caused great 
commotion ; but the arrival of a large quantity of corn from 
Sicily produced a temporary relief. At this time, the resent- 
ment of the people was strongly excited against Coriola'nus, 
who was a man of aristocratic principles, of talents and cour- 
age, and who had distinguished himself in a war against the 
Volsci. He advised that no corn should be distributed to the 
people, unless they would restore the rights of the senate, and 
abolish the office of the tribunes. In consequence of the re- 
sentment which these proposals excited, the tribunes brought 
charges against him, and he was sentenced by the people to 
perpetual banishment. He then went over to the Volsci, who 
appointed him their commander ; and he led their army against 
Rome, which was, for a time, threatened with ruin ; but he was 
at last persuaded, by the earnest entreaties of his mother and 
his wife, to lay down his arms. 

11. The proposal of an Agrarian law for dividing among 
the people the lands which were obtained by conquest, and 
which were the joint property of all the citizens, proved an 
apple of discord thrown out between the rich and the poor. 
Such a division of the public lands was demanded by the 
plebeians, but it was strenuously opposed by the patricians. 
The design was repeatedly brought forward before any such 
law was enacted, and caused violent dissensions. 

12. By the influence of the tribune Vol'ero, a law was en- 
acted that the election of tribunes should be made, and the 
chief public business discussed, in the comitia, or public meet- 
ings held by tribes ; and not, as before, by the centuries and 
curiae. By this law, the supreme authority was taken from the 
patricians and placed in the hands of the plebeians, and the 
Roman government became a democracy. 

13. Dissensions arising on account of the proposed Agrarian 
law, and dangers from the invasions of the Mqui and Volsci, 
Cincinna'tus was twice called from the plough to assume the 
government as dictator. Having completely vanquished the 
enemies of his country, and entered the city in a splendid 
triumph, he resigned his office, and returned again to his re- 
tirement, to labor upon his farm. 

14. The Romans had hitherto possessed no body of written 
laws. Under the regal government, the kings administered 
justice ; and the consuls succeeded them in the exercise of 



itOME. 65 

this high authority. But their arbitrary proceedings were fre- 
quently the subject of complaint, and the citizens became 
desirous of having a fixed code of laws for the security of their 
rights. Three commissioners were, therefore, sent to Greece, 
in order to procure the laws of Solon, and such others as were 
deemed useful in forming a suitable code. 

15. Upon the return of the commissioners, ten of the prin- 
cipal senators, styled decemvirs, were appointed to digest a 
body of laws, and put them in execution for one year. This 
was the origin of those celebrated statutes known by the name 
of the Laws of the Twelve Tables, which formed the basis of 
Roman jurisprudence, and continued to be of the highest 
authority in the most flourishing times of the republic. 

16. The decemvirs were invested with absolute power ; and 
during the time for which they were appointed, all other magis- 
trates were suspended. Each decemvir, by turn, presided for 
a day, and had the sovereign authority, with its insignia and 
fasces. They governed with so much moderation and equity 
during the first year, that they obtained a new appointment ; 
but they soon became tyrannical, and two flagrant abuses of 
power by Ap'pius Clau'dius, the leading member of their body, 
caused a speedy termination of the office. 

17. One of these crimes was his procuring the assassination 
of Sicin'ius Denta'tus, a Roman tribune, who, on account of 
his extraordinary valor and exploits, was styled the Roman 
Acliil'les ; the other was his villany with regard to Virginia, a 
beautiful young maiden, who had been betrothed to Icil'ius, 
formerly a tribune. Having seen her as she was going to a 
public school, and being inflamed with a lawless passion, he 
employed a profligate dependent to claim her as his own 
property, on the pretence of her being the daughter of one of 
his female slaves. 

18. He caused the claim to be brought for trial before him- 
self, and pronounced an infamous decree, by which the inno- 
cent victim was torn from her parents, and placed within his 
own power. Virginius, her father, in order to prevent the 
dishonor of his daughter, plunged a dagger into her heart. 
Brandishing in his hand the bloody weapon, he exclaimed, 
" By this blood, Appius, I devote thy head to the infernal 
gods," and running wildly through the city, he roused the 
people to vengeance. Appius soon after died in prison by his 
own hand ; the other decemvirs went into exile ; the decem- 
virate, after having continued for three years, was abolished ; 
and the consuls were restored. 

6* 



66 ROME. 



SECTION III. 

Military Tribunes . Censors : Veii destroyed : Camillus : 
Rome burnt by the Gauls : Brennus : Manlius : The 
Samnites : Pyrrhus : Conquest of Italy. — From B. C. 
449 to 266. 

1. The two great barriers which still separated the patri- 
cians and plebeians were the prohibition of their intermar- 
riage, and the limitation of the office of consul to the patri- 
cians. After a long contest, the law prohibiting intermarriages 
was repealed, with the hope that this concession would satisfy 
the people. But this success, on the contrary, stimulated them 
to urge their claim to be admitted to a share in the consulship ; 
and on the occurrence of war, they had recourse to their for- 
mer custom of refusing to enlist, unless their demand was 
granted. 

2. After a long contest, it was agreed on both sides, that 
instead of consuls, six military tribunes, with the power of 
consuls, should be chosen, three of them from the patricians, 
and three from the plebeians. This institution, however, was, 
in a short time, laid aside ; and the consuls were again restored 
to office. 

3. The disorders of the republic prevented the survey, or 
enumeration, of the citizens from being regularly attended to. 
In order to remedy this neglect, two officers, styled censors, 
were appointed ; and it was made their duty, not only to take 
the census every five years, but also to inspect the morals and 
regulate the duties of all the citizens. This was an office of 
great dignity and importance, exercised for 100 years by pa- 
tricians ; in the later times of the republic, only by consular 
persons ; and afterwards by the emperors. 

4. In order to avoid the evils which arose from the people's 
frequently refusing to enlist in the army, the senate introduced 
the practice of giving regular pay to the troops. From this 
period, the Roman system of war assumed a new aspect. The 
senate always found soldiers at command ; the army was un- 
der its control ; the enterprises of the republic were more ex- 
tensive, and its success more signal and important. The art 
of war was improved, as it now became a profession, instead 
of an occasional employment. The Roman dominion, hitherto 
confined to a territory of a few miles, soon began to be rapidly 
extended. 

5. The inhabitants of the city of Ve'ii, long the proud rival 
of Rome, equal in extent and population, had repeatedly made 



ROME. 67 

depredations on the Roman territories ; and it was decreed 
that Veii, whatever it might cost, should be destroyed. A 
siege was begun, which was continued, with great exertion and 
various success, for ten years. At length, in order to carry 
it on with greater vigor, Camillus was created dictator ; and 
to him was intrusted the sole management of the long pro- 
tracted war. 

6. He caused a passage to be opened under ground into 
the citadel, by means of which he filled the city with his le- 
gions, who plundered and destroyed it. Camillus was honored 
with a splendid triumph, in which he was drawn in a chariot 
by four white horses ; but being afterwards accused of having 
appropriated to his own use a part of the plunder of Veii, 
indignant at the ingratitude of his countrymen, he went into 
voluntary exile. 

7. The Gauls, a barbarous and warlike people, had long 
before this opened a passage through the Alps, and had settled 
themselves in the northern part of Italy. Under the command 
of their king Brennus, they laid siege to Clu'sium, a city of 
Etruria, the inhabitants of which implored the assistance of 
the Romans. The senate sent three patricians of the Fabian 
family on an embassy to Brennus, to inquire what offence the 
citizens of Clusium had given him. To this he sternly replied, 
that " the right of valiant men lay in their swords ; that the 
Romans themselves had no other right to the cities they had 
conquered." The ambassadors, having obtained leave, entered 
Clusium, and assisted the inhabitants against the assailants. 
This so incensed Brennus, that he raised the siege, marched 
directly towards Rome, and, in a great battle near the rivulet 
Allia, defeated the Roman army with great slaughter. 

8. The Gauls then entered Rome, and after a general mas- 
sacre of such of the inhabitants as remained in it, and a pillage 
of the city, they burnt it to ashes, and razed the walls to the 
ground. They next besieged the capitol ; but the Romans 
repelled their attacks with great bravery. At length, having 
discovered footsteps leading up to the top of the Tarpeian 
Rock, a body of Gauls undertook the difficult enterprise of 
gaining the summit in the night, which they accomplished 
while the Roman sentinel was asleep. At this moment, the 
cackling of some geese in the temple of Juno is said to have 
awakened Marcus Manlius, with his associates, who instantly 
threw the Gauls headlong down the precipice. 

9. From this time, the hopes of the Gauls began to decline, 
and they soon after agreed to quit the city on condition of re- 
ceiving 1000 pounds weight of gold ; but, after the gold was 
brought, the Gauls weighed with false weights, and the com- 



68 ROME. 

plaints, which the. Romans made of the deception, were treated 
with insolence. At this juncture, Camillus, who had recently 
been restored to favor, and again appointed dictator, appeared 
at the gates with an army. Having been informed of the de- 
ception and insolence of the Gauls, he ordered the gold to be 
carried back into the capitol, commanded the Gauls to retire, 
adding that " Rome must be ransomed by steel, and not by 
gold." Upon this a battle ensued, in which the Gauls were 
entirely routed, and Camillus was honored as the father of his 
country and the second founder of Rome. The city, being 
freed from its invaders, soon began to rise again from its ashes. 

10. Manlius was liberally rewarded for his heroism ; but at 
length, envying the fame of Camillus, he abandoned himself 
to ambitious views ; and being accused of aiming at sovereign 
power, he was sentenced to be thrown headlong from the Tar- 
peian Rock. Thus the place, which had been the theatre of his 
glory, became that of his punishment and infamy. 

11. The Romans next turned their arms against the Sam- 
nites, a race of hardy mountaineers, inhabiting an extensive 
tract in the southern part of Italy. This contest lasted upwards 
of 50 years, and was carried on by the Samnites with great 
valor and skill, though they were finally subdued. They 
defeated the Romans at Caudina Furculce, near Caudium, and 
made their whole army pass under the yoke, formed by two 
spears set upright, and a third bound across them. This roused 
the spirit of revenge on the part of the Romans, who appointed 
Pcqrir'ius Cursor dictator ; and the next year, under his com- 
mand, they gained a victory over the Samnites, compelling 
them, in turn, to undergo the same disgrace at Luce'ria ; and 
by the exertions of Fabius Maximus and Decius, they were 
finally subjugated. 

12. During the consulship of Manlius Torquatus, a war 
broke out between the Romans and Latins. In order to pre- 
vent confusion in time of action by reason of the similarity of 
the two nations, Manlius issued orders that death should be in- 
flicted on any one who should leave his ranks. When the two 
armies were drawn out for battle, Melius, a Latin commander, 
challenged to single combat any Roman knight. Titus Man- 
lius, the son of the consul, accepted the challenge, and slew 
his adversary ; and for this act he was beheaded by the stern 
order of his father. The Latins were vanquished, and sub- 
mitted to the Romans. 

13. The Tarentines, who were the allies of the Samnites, 
sought the aid of Pj/rr/ms, king of Epi'rus, the greatest general 
of his age. He landed at Tarentum with an army of 30,000 
men, and twenty elephants ; and the Romans, under the com- 



ROME. 69 

mand of the consul Lcevi'nus, not being accustomed to the mode 
of fighting with elephants, were at first defeated, with the loss 
of 15,000 men ; that of Pyrrhus was nearly as great ; and he 
was heard to confess that another such victory would compel 
him to return to Epirus. His admiration of the heroism of his 
enemy drew from him the celebrated exclamation, " O, with 
what ease could I conquer the world, had I the Romans for 
soldiers, or had they me for their king ! " 

14. In the progress of the war, Fabri'cius, who afterwards 
commanded the Roman army, received a letter from the phy- 
sician of Pyrrhus, importing that for a proper reward he would 
poison the king. Fabricius, indignant at so base a proposal, 
gave immediate information of it to Pyrrhus, who, admiring 
the generosity of his enemy, exclaimed, " It is easier to turn 
the sun from his course, than Fabricius from the path of 
honor ! " — and that he might not be outdone in magnanimity, 
he released all his Roman prisoners without ransom. 

15. Pyrrhus then withdrew his army from Italy, in order to 
assist the Sicilians against the Carthaginians ; but he again 
returned, and made a last effort near Beneventum, where he 
was totally defeated by Cu'rius Denta'tus. He then withdrew 
to his own dominions, and the Romans, after having gained 
further victories over the Samnites, became masters of all 
Lower Italy. 



SECTION IV. 

Cartilage: Sicily. 

1. As the history of Rome now becomes connected with 
that of Carthage and Sicily, it may be proper to introduce 
here a short notice of those states. 

2. Carthage is said to have been founded, nearly 900 years 
before the Christian era, by Dido, with a colony of Tyrians. 
The government, at first monarchial, became afterwards re- 
publican, and it is commended by Aristotle as one of the most 
perfect of antiquity. The two chief magistrates, called suffe'- 
tes, or judges, were elected annually from the first families. 
The religion was a cruel superstition, and human victims were 
offered in sacrifice. 

3. In the time of the Punic wars, Carthage was the most 
commercial and wealthy city, and one of the most splendid 
in the world. It had under its dominion about 300 smaller 
towns in Africa, bordering on the Mediterranean, a great part 
of Spain, also of Sicily, and other islands. The Carthagini- 



70 KOMK. 

ana worked the gold mines of Spain ; they were devoted to 

commerce, and had the vices and characteristics of a coinmcr- 

cial people. The Romans, who were their rivals and enemies, 
represented them as wanting in integrity and honor; hence 

the ironical phrase, Pn'nica fides [Punic faith]) tO denote 

treachery. 

I. I lisiory records the names of lew persons among the Car- 
thaginians eminent as philosophers, or distinguished in the 
arts. The Per'tplus, or voyage of Hanno, an illustrious Car- 
thaginian, who wrote an account of his expedition, affords 
proof of ardent enterprise, Carthage produced several cele- 
brated generals, among whom were Hami/'car, As'drubal, and 
Hannibal: the last was the mosl formidable enemy that Rome 
e\ er experienced. 

5. The Phoenicians sen! colonies to Sirfty before the Trojan 
war, and the Greeks, at later periods, made settlements on 
the island. Sicily contained many large and opulent cities ; 

ol* these, Si/r'acuse, rounded by the Corinthians, was the most 
populous and commercial, and larger than anv of the cities of 
Greece. It was governed, in its early ages", like most ol' the 

other cities of Sicily, by a democracy, but at length it fell into 
the power of an individual. 

(>. To Gchm, one of its sovereigns, history ascribes every 
virtue; but his successors boin^ cruel tyrants, the people took 

measures to rid themselves of the regal government. It was, 
however, after (>0 years, again restored in the person of Dto- 
nysiuS) a man of great talents; but he found it easier to ac- 
quire royally than to preserve and enjoy it. His son, Dionus- 

ius the Younger, a weak and capricious tyrant, was dethroned 
by the aid of Timo'leon, an illustrious Corinthian, and exiled 
to Corinth, where he died in poverty. 



SUCTION V. 

First runic War; ReguluS i Second Punic War: Hanni- 
bal: Conquest of Macedonia: Third Funic War: Car- 

thage destroyed: Conquest of Greece. — From />. C, 264 
to 133, 

1. The Romans, having become masters of all Lower Italy, 
were eager to extend their conquests into foreign countries. 

They had hitherto made no naval conquests, and possessed no 
fleet. Carthage was now their most formidable rival, and the 



ROME, 71 

greatest maritime power in the world, possessing an extensive 

sway over all the commercial towns of the Mediterranean. 
The Carthaginians were rich in merchandise, in silver and 
gold : the Romans were comparatively poor, but preeminent 

in patriotism and valor, and amhition:; of eon'pjest. 

2. The Mamer tines, a people of Campa'nia, obtained assist* 
ance of the Romans in a war with Hi'ero, tyrant of Syracuse* 
The Syracusans being at first assisted by the Carthaginians, a 
war was brought on between the latter and the Ifomans, styled 
the first Punic Was. The object, at first, of both parties, was 
merely to obtain possession of Messa'na, in order to command 
the passage of the straits, which took their name from that 
city ; but it soon became a contest for the sovereignty of the 

whole island, and the dominion of the se;r;. 

3. The Romans now earnestly .'Applied themselves to mari- 
time affairs. A Carthaginian vessel, which happened, in a 

Storm, to be driven ashore, served ms a model 5 and within 
two months, a fleet, consisting of" upwards of 100 vessels, of a 
rude construction, was prepared, of which the command was 
given to the consul JJuU'Hus, who defeated the Carthaginians, 
and took 50 of their vessels. Soon after the commencement 
of the war, the Syracusans, changing their course, joined the 
Romans, and A{rrig(m'Lum was taken from the Carthaginians. 

4. The Romans increased their naval force to upwards of 
300 galleys, and gained another great victory, off the coast of 
Sicily, over the Carthaginians, who then made an offer of 
peace ; but it was rejected. The consul Reg'ulus^ with an 
army, soon landed on the coast of Africa., defeated the Cartha- 
ginians, and appeared before the gates of the capital. I lore, 
being met by the Carthaginians, under the command of Xan» 
thip'pus, a Spartan, he was totally defeated, and taken prisoner. 
He wa.s afterwards sent with the Carthaginian ambassadors to 

Rome, in order to procure peace, under an Oath to return if 

the negotiation should fail. Reguius, thinking the terms not 
advantageous to his country, strenuously opposed their being 
accepted, and returned to Carthage, where lie was put to death 

with the most cruel tortures. 

5. The war continued to rage in Sicily with various sue- 
e< ,; but the Romans finally prevailed, and the Carthagini- 
ans were compelled to accept of humiliating terms of peace. 
They agreed to abandon Sicily, to pay the Romans '{,'200 tal- 
ents, and release their captives. Sicily was now declared a 
Roman province, but Syracuse still maintained its independent 
government. After the close of this war, the Romans made a 
conquest of Qfoal'pme Gaul, 

f>. The peace between the Romans and Carthaginians lasted 



72 ROME. 

23 years ; and during a part of this period, the temple of 
Janus was shut for the first time since the reign of Numa. 

7. The most distinguished Carthaginian commander in the 
first Punic war was Hamil'car, who was the father of Han'- 
nibal, and who trained his son to war, and made him swear, 
when very young, a perpetual enmity to the Roman name. 
Hannibal was one of the greatest generals of antiquity, and at 
the early age of 26 years, was raised to the chief command 
of the Carthaginian army. He commenced the second Punic 
War by besieging Saguntum, a city of Spain in alliance with 
the Romans. After a siege of seven months, the desperate in- 
habitants set fire to the city, and perished in the flames. 

8. Hannibal now formed the bold design of carrying the 
war into Italy, and by an arduous and toilsome march, he led 
his army over the Pyr'enees, and afterwards over the Alps, and 
gained four great victories, — the first over Scip'io, near the 
Tici'nus ; the second over Sempro'nius, near the Tre'bia ; the 
third over Flamin'ius, near lake Thrasyme'nus ; and the fourth 
over Mmil'ius and Varro, at Cannes. The last was the most 
memorable defeat that the Romans ever suffered. According 
to Livy, 50,000, and, according to Polybius, no less than 70,000, 
of their troops were left dead on the field, together with the 
consul iEmilius. Among the slain were 5,000 or 6,000 
Roman knights, the greater part of the whole body; and 
Hannibal is said to have sent to Carthage three bushels of gold 
rings, which they wore on their fingers. 

9. Hannibal has been censured for not making the best use 
of this great victory by immediately attacking Rome, and, in- 
stead of doing this, for leading his troops into winter-quarters, 
at Cap'ua, where they were corrupted and enervated by dissi- 
pation in that luxurious city. 

10. The Romans, being now guided by the counsels of the 
sagacious and prudent Fa'bius Max'imus, concentrated their 
strength. The chief command of their armies was given to 
Fabius, styled the Shield, and to Marcellus, the Sivord of 
Rome. The good fortune of Hannibal now forsook him ; and 
he remained 13 years in Italy, after the battle of Cannse, with- 
out gaining any signal advantage. At the siege of Nola, he 
was repulsed by Marcellus with considerable loss, and his 
army was harassed and weakened by Fabius. 

11. Syracuse, which had taken part with Carthage, was be- 
sieged by Marcellus, and after being defended for three years 
by the inventive genius of the celebrated mathematician Ar- 
chimedes, it was at last compelled to surrender. This event 
put an end to the kingdom of Syracuse, which now became a 



ROME. 73 

part of the Roman province of Sicily. A large army of Car- 
thaginians was sent from Spain into Italy under the command 
of As'drubal, the brother of Hannibal, who was defeated with 
great slaughter by the Romans, under the command of the 
consuls Liv y and Nero, near the small river Metau'rus, which 
empties into the Tyrrhene sea. 

12. Scip'io, afterwards surnamed Africa'nus, having con- 
quered Spain, passed over into Africa, with a Roman army, 
and carried havoc and devastation to the walls of Carthage. 
Alarmed for the fate of their empire, the Carthaginians imme- 
diately recalled Hannibal from Italy. These two great com- 
manders, Hannibal and Scipio, at the head of their respective 
armies, fought on the plains of Zama a memorable battle, in 
which the Carthaginians were totally defeated. A peace soon 
followed, the conditions of which were, that Carthage should 
abandon Spain, Sicily, and all the other islands in the Mediter- 
ranean, surrender all their prisoners, give up their whole fleet, 
except ten galleys, and, in future, undertake no war without 
the consent of the Romans. Thus terminated the second Pu- 
nic war, in the humiliation of Carthage, after having continued 
for 17 years. 

13. Hannibal afterwards fled from his country, and passed 
the last 13 years of his life in Syria and Bithynia. During his 
exile, Scipio resided a while in the same country, and many 
friendly conversations passed between them ; in one of which 
the Roman is said to have asked the Carthaginian " whom he 
thought the greatest general." Hannibal immediately replied, 
" Alexander ; because that, with a small body of men, he had 
defeated very numerous armies, and had overrun a great part 
of the world." " And who do you think deserves the next 
place ? " continued the Roman. " Pyrrhus," replied the oth- 
er ; " he first taught the method of forming a camp to the best 
advantage. Nobody knew better how to choose, or post 
guards more properly." " And whom do you place next to 
those ? " said Scipio. " Myself," said Hannibal ; at which 
Scipio asked, with a smile, " Where, then, would you have 
placed yourself, if you had conquered me ? " " Above Alex- 
ander," replied the Carthaginian, u above Pyrrhus, and above 
all other generals." 

14. While engaged in hostilities with the Carthaginians, the 
Romans prosecuted the first Macedonian War, which termi- 
nated in the defeat of king Philip, in the battle of Cynoceph'a- 
le. Not long afterwards, a Roman army, under Scip'io, sur- 
named Asiat'icus, invaded Syria, and, in the battle of Magnesia, 
defeated Anti'ochus the Great, The second Macedonian War 

7 



74 ROME. 

followed, which terminated in the defeat of Per'seus, the last 
king of that country, in the battle of Pydna, and the reduction 
of Macedonia to a Roman province. 

15. About 50 years after the conclusion of the second Punic 
war, the Carthaginians attempted to repel the Numidians, who 
made incursions into a territory claimed by the former. The 
Romans, pretending this was a violation of their treaty, laid 
hold of it as a pretext for commencing the third Punic War, 
with a determination to effect the entire destruction of Car- 
thage. Por'cius Cato, the censor, who now swayed the de- 
cisions of the senate, had long cherished this savage design, 
and had been in the habit of concluding his speeches with 
this expression ; Delenda est Carthago, " Carthage must be 
destroyed." 

16. The Carthaginians, conscious of their inability to resist 
the Romans, offered every submission, and were ready even 
to acknowledge themselves subjects of Rome. They yielded 
up, to the demand of the Romans, their ships, their arms, and 
munitions of war. They were then required to abandon the 
city, in order that it might be destroyed. This demand was 
heard by the inhabitants with a mixed feeling of indignation 
and despair ; but the spirit of liberty and independence not be- 
ing yet extinct, they were roused to make the most strenuous 
efforts, having resolved to sacrifice their lives rather than to 
obey the barbarous mandate. 

17. After the most desperate resistance for three years, the 
city was at last taken by Scipio, the second Africanus, and, 
being set on fire, the flames continued to rage during 17 days. 
Thus was Carthage, with its walls and buildings, the habita- 
tions of 700,000 people, razed to its foundations. Such of the 
inhabitants as disdained to surrender themselves prisoners of 
war, were either massacred or perished in the flames. The 
scenes of horror were such as to force tears even from the Ro- 
man general. 

18. The year in which this barbarous transaction took place 
was signalized by the taking of Cor'inth, and the reduction of 
Greece to a Roman province. And a few years afterwards, 
Numan'tia, in Spain, after a tremendous siege, fell into the 
hands of the Romans. 



ROME. 75 



SECTION VI. 

The Gracchi : Jugurtha : Social War : Mithridates : Marius 
and Sylla : Servile War : Conspiracy of Catiline. — From 
B. C. 133 to 63. 

1. The Romans had hitherto been characterized by temper- 
ance, severity of manners, military enterprise, and public 
spirit ; but they were not as yet a literary people, and the arts 
and sciences had been but little cultivated by them. These 
were now introduced from Greece ; and the period of the sub- 
jugation of that country is the era of the dawn of taste and lit- 
erature in Rome. Acquaintance with foreign nations, and the 
introduction of foreign wealth, began also, at this period, to in- 
troduce luxury and corruption of manners. 

2. The power of Rome was now widely extended ; her arms 
had been everywhere triumphant ; and by the destruction of 
Carthage she was freed from the fear of a rival. But when 
there was no longer a foreign object to excite apprehension, 
she began to be torn by domestic dissensions, which continued, 
in various forms, to distract the state, till the final dissolution 
of the commonwealth. 

3. Tibe'rius and Ca'ius Grac'chus, men of eloquence and 
influence, distinguished themselves by asserting the claims of 
the people. Tiberius, the elder of the two brothers, being a 
tribune, attempted to check the power of the patricians, and 
abridge their overgrown estates, by reviving the Licinian law, 
which ordained that no citizen should possess more than 500 
acres of the public lands. A tumult was the consequence, in 
which Tiberius, together with 300 of his friends, was killed in 
the forum by the senators. 

4. This fatal example did not deter his brother Caius from 
pursuing a similar career, in endeavoring to maintain, by 
force, the privileges of the people, against the encroachments 
of the senate. But, like his brother, he fell a victim to the at- 
tempt, with 3,000 of his partisans, who were slaughtered in the 
streets of Rome by the consul Opim'ius. 

5. Jugur'tha, a grandson of Masinis'sa, attempted to usurp 
the crown of Numid'ia by destroying his cousins, Hiemp'sal 
and Adher'bal, grandsons also of Masinissa, and sons of the de- 
ceased king Micip'sa. He murdered the elder, but Adherbal, 
the younger, escaping, applied to Rome for aid ; but the sen- 
ate, being bribed by Jugurtha, divided the kingdom between 
the two. Jugurtha, having defeated and slain his cousin, seized 
the whole kingdom ; but he excited against himself the ven- 
geance of the Romans. 



76 ROME. 

6. War being declared against him, the Roman "army was 
at first commanded by Metellus ; but the celebrated Ma'rius, 
having supplanted and succeeded him in command, gained two 
great victories over Jugurtha, who was taken prisoner, led in 
chains to Rome, and, after having graced the triumph of the 
conqueror, was confined in a dungeon, where he was starved 
to death. Marius afterwards led the Roman army against the 
Teu'tones and Cimbri, and defeated them with great slaughter. 

7. A confederacy of the states of Italy against Rome, to 
obtain the rights of citizenship, gave rise to the Social War, 
which continued to rage for several yeai's, and is said to have 
caused the destruction of about 300,000 men. It was ended 
by conceding the rights of citizenship to all such as should re- 
turn to their allegiance. 

8. Mithrida'tes, king of Pontus, the most powerful monarch 
of the East, and one of the greatest generals of the age, formed 
a design of uniting in a confederacy the eastern and northern 
nations, and, at the head of their forces, of overrunning Italy. 
He began the war by causing about 80,000 Romans, who 
dwelt in the cities of Asia Minor, to be massacred in one day ; 
and soon after he invaded Greece. — ■ In this celebrated contest, 
styled the Mithridatic War, the famous Roman generals, Sylla, 
Lucullus and Pompey, successively bore a distinguished part. 

9. Sylla, a man of great talents and an able general, who 
had distinguished himself in the late wars, and was now at the 
head of an army in Campania, was appointed to the chief 
command in the war against Mithrida'tes. He belonged to an 
illustrious family, and was popular with the senate. But his 
great rival Marius, a peasant by birth, was an enemy to the 
aristocracy, and a favorite with the people. He was now 70 
years of age, had been distinguished for his warlike genius 
and exploits for nearly half a century, and had been honored 
with two triumphs and six consulates. But his ambition was 
not yet satisfied ; and he had the address to get the command 
of the army transferred from Sylla to himself. 

10. Sylla, on receiving this intelligence, finding his troops 
devoted to him, led them immediately to Rome, which he 
entered sword in hand, surrounded the house of the senate, and 
compelled that body to issue a decree declaring Marius an 
enemy to his country. Marius, being obliged to flee, made 
his escape into Africa, and Sylla afterwards entered upon the 
Mithridatic war. Cinna, a zealous partisan of Marius, col- 
lected an army, recalled the veteran warrior, who, after gain- 
ing a bloody victory, entered Rome, and gave orders for mur- 
dering all the great senators. After a horrible massacre of 
their enemies, Marius and Cinna proclaimed themselves con- 



ROx\lE. 77 

suls, without the formality of an election. But the career of 
Marius was soon terminated by death, and, not long after, China 
was assassinated. 

11. Sylla, after having had a victorious campaign in the 
war against Mithrida'tes, in which he gained great victories, 
returned to Italy, and entering Rome with his army, caused 
another horrible massacre, in which his object was to extermi- 
nate every enemy he had in Italy. Having obtained the ap- 
pointment of perpetual dictator, he caused the streets of Rome 
to flow with the blood of her citizens. To the surprise, how- 
ever, both of his friends and of his enemies, he resigned the 
dictatorship, before he had completed three years in office, and 
retired to a villa at Pute'oli, where he spent the rest of his 
days in the society of licentious persons, and the occasional 
pursuits of literature. On his death, he was honored with a 
magnificent funeral, and a monument with the following epi- 
taph, written by himself: — "I am Sylla the Fortunate, who, 
in the course of my life, have surpassed both friends and 
enemies ; the former by the good, the latter by the evil I have 
done them." — In the civil wars carried on between Sylla and 
Marius, 150,000 Roman citizens were sacrificed, including 
200 senators, and 33 men who had been consuls. 

12. After the death of Sylla, the old dissensions again 
broke out between the two parties, supported respectively by 
the two consuls, Cat'ulus and Lep'idus. The latter favored the 
party of Marius, and was also supported by Serto'rius, a great 
general, who was now at the head of an army in Spain, where 
he established an independent republic, and sustained, with 
great ability, a war for several years against the Roman state ; 
but he was at last murdered by Perper'na. 

13. The commonwealth was now, for two years, harassed 
by the Servile War, excited by Spar'tacus, a Thracian shep- 
herd who had been kept at Capua as a gladiator. Escaping 
from his confinement, he placed himself at the head of an 
army of slaves, laid waste the country ; but he was at length 
totally defeated, with the loss of 40,000 men, by Crassus. 

14. A few years after the defeat of Spar'tacus, a conspiracy, 
threatening the destruction of Rome, was headed by Cat'iline, 
a man of extraordinary courage and talents, but of ruined for- 
tune, and most profligate character. A plan was concerted, 
that there should be a simultaneous insurrection throughout 
Italy ; that Rome should be fired in different places at once ; 
and that Catiline, at the head of an army, should take pos- 
session of the city and massacre all the senators. 

15. This sanguinary plot was seasonably detected and 

crushed by the vigilance and energy of the consul Cicero, 
7 # 



78 ROME. 

the great Roman orator. Catiline, at the head of 12,000 men 
whom he had collected, was defeated and slain, together with 
his whole army. 



SECTION VII. 

First Triumvirate : Civil War of Ccesar and Pompey : 
Second Triumvirate : Dissolution of the Commonicealth. - 
From B. C. 60 to 31. 

1. Pompey, who, on account of his military exploits, was 
surnamed the Great, was appointed to the chief command in 
conducting the Mithridatic War, which he brought to a suc- 
cessful termination. He defeated Mithrida'tes, king of Pon- 
tus, and Tigra'nes, king of Armenia, and reduced Syria, 
together with Judea, to the state of a Roman province. Re- 
turning home, after his splendid campaign, the Romans honor- 
ed him with a triumph, and gazed, for three successive days, 
on the spoils of eastern grandeur, which preceded his chariot. 

2. The two most considerable men now in Rome were 
Pompey and Crassus ; the former distinguished for his talents, 
popularity, and military fame, the latter for his enormous 
wealth, extensive patronage, and great liberality. Julius 
Casar had, before this time, distinguished himself by his mili- 
tary achievements, and risen into public notice. When a 
young man, he was exceedingly profligate, and had, at an 
early age, excited the jealousy of Sylla, who, discerning his 
great talents and ambition, said of him, that " he saw many a 
Marius in that dissolute youth." Pompey and Crassus were 
hostile to each other, both of them contending for the com- 
mand of the republic. Casar paid court to both, and had the 
address to unite them. The three formed the design of ap- 
propriating to themselves the whole power of the state, and 
entered into that famous league, known by the name of the 
First Triumvirate. 

3. They distributed the foreign provinces among themselves : 
Pompey received Spain and Africa, and remained in Rome ; 
Crassus chose Syria, which was the richest ; Caesar took Gaul, 
and he ratified his treaty with Pompey by giving him his 
daughter Julia in marriage. Crassus, having made war against 
the Parthians, who were commanded by Sure'na, was defeated 
in a battle fought near CarrcB, and was afterwards taken and 
slain, leaving the empire to his two colleagues. The bond of 
union between Csesar and Pompey had already been dissolved 
by the recent death of Julia ; the two rivals became jealous 



ROME. 79 

of each other ; each began to manifest hostility, and to aspire 
to undivided dominion. 

4. On the division of the provinces among the triumvirs, 
Caesar had proceeded immediately to take possession of Gaul, 
which was inhabited by many barbarous and warlike nations, 
most of them yet unconquered. Here he had a most brilliant 
career of victory, in eight campaigns, which he conducted 
with extraordinary ability. He contrived to give a color of 
justice and humanity to his bloody operations, by professing 
himself the protector of the native inhabitants against the in- 
vasions of the Helvetii and the Germans. He acquired a 
high military reputation, and great popularity ; and rendered 
himself the idol of his troops by sharing with them every dan- 
ger, and by his great liberality, affability, and clemency. 

5. Pompey, who had remained all this time in Rome, was 
alarmed on account of the great reputation of his rival, and 

endeavored to thwart his views. The term of Caesar's govern- 

i . ® 

ment being about to expire, he applied to the senate to be con- 
tinued in his authority ; but this body, being devoted to Pom- 
pey, denied his demand. He now resolved to support his 
claim by force of arms, and a civil war was the consequence. 
The consuls and most of the senators were the friends of Pom- 
pey. Caesar had on his side a victorious army devoted to his 
cause, and the great body of Roman citizens, whom he had 
won by his liberality. 

6. Pompey had been careful to place in the provinces gov- 
ernors devoted to himself; but he had no army, and took no 
measures to raise one. Cicero, surprised at his negligence in 
his preparations, asked him with what troops he expected to 
oppose Caesar ? " I need only stamp my foot on the ground," 
he replied, " and an army will arise." 

7. Caesar, having bound his army to him by an oath of fidel- 
ity, led it over the Alps, and, stopping at Ravenna, wrote to 
the Roman government, offering to resign all command, in case 
Pompey would do the same ; but the senate decreed that he 
should lay down his government and disband his forces, within 
a limited time, under the penalty of being declared an enemy 
to the commonwealth. Caesar marched his army to the banks 
of the Ru'bicon, a small river separating Italy from Cisalpine 
Gaul, and forming the limits of his command ; and to pass 
which with an army, or even a single cohort, had been declared 
by the senate a sacrilege and parricide. On arriving at this 
famous stream, he is said to have hesitated, impressed with the 
greatness of the enterprise, and its fearful consequences, and 
to have said to Pollio, one of his generals, " If I pass this riv- 
er, what miseries I shall bring on my country ! and if I do not 



80 ROME. 

pass it, I am undone." Soon after, he exclaimed, " The die 
is cast ! " and, putting spurs to his horse, he passed the stream, 
followed by his soldiers. 

8. The news of this movement excited the utmost terror in 
Rome. The citizens reproached Pompey with his supineness. 
" Where now," said a senator, in derision, " is the army that 
is to rise up at your command ? Let us see if it will come by 
stamping." Pompey himself was alarmed, and aware that he 
was unable to resist Cassar in Rome, where the great body of 
the citizens were devoted to him, he led his forces to Cap'ua. 
where he had two legions ; thence he proceeded to Brundu'- 
sium, and passed over to Dyrrach'ium, in Macedonia. He was 
followed by the consuls and a great part of the senate, and took 
measures to levy troops both in Italy and Greece. 

9. Csesar, having made himself master of Italy in 60 days, 
directed his course to Rome, entered the city triumphantly 
amidst the acclamations of the people, seized the public treas- 
ury, and possessed himself of the supreme authority without 
opposition. He made great ostentation of clemency, said that 
he entered Italy, not to injure, but to restore the liberties of 
Rome and the citizens, and gradually dissipated the fears 
which had been generally entertained of another proscription. 
After staying a few days in the city, he proceeded with his 
army to Spain, defeated Pompey's lieutenants, made himself 
master of the whole country, and returned victorious to Rome, 
where the citizens created him dictator and consul. 

10. The monarchs of the East had declared in favor of 
Pompey, and had sent him large supplies ; and he had at this 
time collected a numerous army. His cause was considered 
that of the commonwealth ; and he was daily joined by crowds 
of the most distinguished nobles and citizens from Rome. He 
had, at one time, in his camp, upwards of 200 senators, among 
whom were Cicero and Cato, whose approbation alone was 
equivalent to a host. 

11. Caesar stayed only eleven days at Rome : being anxious 
to bring his antagonist to a decisive engagement, he pursued 
him with his army, and near Dyrrach'ium an engagement took 
place, which terminated in favor of Pompey, who afterwards 
led his troops into the plains of Pharsa'Ka. Csesar did every- 
thing to provoke a general battle ; and when he saw his enemy 
advancing, he exclaimed, " The time we have so long wished 
for is come ; let us see how we are to acquit ourselves." The 
contest was now calculated to excite the deepest interest ; the 
two armies were composed of the best soldiers in the world, 
and were commanded by the two greatest generals of the age ; 
and the prize contended for was nothing less than the Roman 



ROME. 81 

12. Pompey's army consisted of upwards of 50,000 men ; 
Caesar's, of less than half that number ; yet the troops of the 
latter were far the best disciplined. On the side of Pompey, 
there was the most confident expectation of success ; the minds 
of all being less occupied about the means of conquering, than 
about distributing the fruits of victory. The engagement, 
which lasted from early in the morning till noon, terminated in 
a decisive victory in favor of Caesar, who lost only 200 men, 
while the loss of Pompey amounted to 15,000 killed, and 
24,000 prisoners. 

13. Caesar, on this occasion, manifested his characteristic 
clemency, and the honors which he had acquired as victor 
were soon rendered more glorious by his humanity and mod- 
eration. He set at liberty the senators and Roman knights, 
and incorporated with the rest of his army the most of the pris- 
oners. The baggage of Pompey was brought to him, contain- 
ing numerous letters of his enemies ; these he threw into the 
fire without opening them. When viewing the field strewn 
with his fallen countrymen, he seemed affected at the melan- 
choly sight, and exclaimed, as if by way of justification, — 
" They would have it so ! " 

14. The fate of Pompey was wretched in the extreme. Ac- 
customed to victory for 30 years, and master of the republic, 
he was in one day deprived of his power, and became a mis- 
erable fugitive. Taking with him his wife Cornelia, he fled 
with very few attendants to Egypt, to seek protection of Ptol- 
emy, whose father he had befriended. But he was basely mur- 
dered in the presence of his wife, and his body thrown upon the 
sand. His freed man burnt his corpse, and buried the ashes, 
over which the following inscription was afterwards placed : — 
" He, whose merits deserve a temple, can now scarcely find 
a grave." In the mean time, Caesar had instantly followed 
Pompey into Egypt, and the head of his rival, which had been 
preserved, was presented to him ; but he turned his face from 
it with horror, shedding tears on remembering their former 
friendship, and he ordered a splendid monument to be erected 
to his memory. 

15. The throne of Egypt was now possessed by Ptolemy 
and his sister, the celebrated Cleopa'tra. The latter aspired 
to undivided authority, and Caesar, captivated by the charms 
of the beautiful queen, decided the contest in her favor. A 
war ensued, in which Ptolemy was killed, and Egypt subdued 
by the Roman arms. Caesar for a while abandoned himself 
to pleasure, in the company of Cleopatra, but was at length 
called away to suppress a revolt of Pharnaces, the son of 
Mithrida'tes, who had seized upon Colchis and Armenia. 



82 ROME. 

Caesar subdued him with great ease, in a battle at Zela ; and 
in his letter to Rome, he expressed the rapidity of his conquest 
in three words : Veni, vidi, Vici ; " I came, I saw, I con- 
quered." 

16. Caesar now hastened to Rome, which he found in a state 
of great disorder, by reason of the bad government of Mark 
Antony ; but he soon restored tranquillity. Pompey's party 
had rallied their forces in Africa, under the command of Cato 
and Scipio, assisted by Juba, king of Mauritania. Caesar pur- 
sued them thither, and gained a complete victory in the battle 
of Thapsus. Cato, who was a rigid Stoic and a stern republi- 
can, shut himself up in Utica, where he meditated a brave 
resistance ; but, perceiving all was lost, he killed himself in 
despair. 

17. The war in Africa being thus ended, Caesar returned 
again to Rome, and celebrated a most magnificent triumph, 
which lasted four days : the first was for Gaul ; the second for 
Egypt ; the third for his victories in Asia ; and the fourth for 
his victory over Juba. He distributed liberally rewards to his 
veteran soldiers and officers, and to the citizens ; he treated 
the people with combats of elephants, and engagements be- 
tween parties of cavalry and infantry ; and he entertained 
them at a public feast, at which 20,000 couches were placed 
for the guests. The multitude, intoxicated by these allure- 
ments of pleasure, cheerfully yielded up their liberties to their 
great enslaver. The senate and people vied with each other 
in acts of servility and adulation. He was hailed father of his 
country, was created perpetual dictator, received the title of 
imperator or emperor, and his person was declared sacred. 

18. After having settled affairs at Rome, he found him- 
self obliged to go again into Spain, where Labie'nus and the 
two sons of Pompey had raised an army against him ; but he 
completely defeated them in the obstinate and bloody battle 
of Munda, which decided the fate of the adherents of his 
rival. 

19. Having now acquired, by the force of his arms, the 
whole Roman empire, and subdued all who opposed his usur- 
pation, Caesar returned to Rome the master of the world. But 
no usurper ever used his power with greater wisdom and mod- 
eration. " I will not," he said, in one of his speeches, " re- 
new the massacres of Sylla and Marius, the very remembrance 
of which is shocking to me. Now that my enemies are sub- 
dued, I will lay aside the sword, and endeavor, solely by my 
good offices, to gain over those who continue to hate me." 
He pardoned all who had carried arms against him, made no 
distinction with regard to parties, devoted himself to the pros- 



ROME. 83 

perity and happiness of the people, corrected abuses, extended 
his care to the most distant provinces, reformed the calendar, 
undertook to drain the Pontine marshes, to improve the navi- 
gation of the Tiber, and to embellish the city ; and he con- 
ceived many noble projects which he was not destined to 
realize. 

20. Though Csesar had repeatedly refused the crown when 
offered, by Mark Antony, to his acceptance, yet a rumor was 
widely circulated that he aspired to the name of an office of 
which he enjoyed all the splendid realities ; and the fresh 
honors which the senate continued to heap upon him were 
calculated to excite the envy and jealousy of a body of men 
who conspired against his life : nor could he, by his clemency 
and munificence, obliterate from the minds of the people the 
remembrance of their former constitution, or of the manner in 
which he had obtained his power. The conspiracy which was 
now formed against him embraced no less than 60 senators : 
and at the head of it were Brutus and Cassius. men whose 
lives had been spared by the conqueror after the battle of Phar- 
salia. The former, who was beloved by Csesar, and had re- 
ceived from him numerous favors, was actuated by hatred, not 
of the tyrant, but of tyranny, and sought the equivocal repu- 
tation of sacrificing all the ties of friendship and gratitude to 
the love of liberty and of his country. The latter thirsted for 
revenge against an envied and hated superior. 

21. The rumor that the crown was to be conferred upon the 
dictator on the ides [15th] of March, induced the conspira- 
tors to fix upon that day for the execution of their designs ; 
and no sooner had Caesar taken his seat in the senate-house, 
than he was assailed by their daggers. He defended himself 
for a while with visror, till, on a sudden, seeing Brutus among 
the assailants, and being astonished at the desertion of his 
friend, he uttered the celebrated exclamation. Et tu Brule ! 
t; And you, too, Brutus ! " when, muffling up his face with his 
mantle, he resigned himself to his fate, and fell pierced with 
23 wounds. Thus perished Julius Casar. in the 56th year of 
his age, 14 vears after he commenced his career of conquest 
in Gaul, and after having been only about five months in the 
undisputed p oaBC wioM of that power, which it had been the ob- 
ject of his life to obtain. 

22. Csesar was one of the most extraordinary men that have 
appeared in historv, uniting the threefold character of the his- 
torian, the warrior, and the statesman. Although, as the sub- 
verter of the liberties of his country, he deserves only to be 
detested, yet he 13 not without claims to admiration : for, to- 
gether with his unbounded ambition, he poeseased the most 



84 ROME. 

splendid endowments of genius, and many noble qualities of 
the heart ; and the world has scarcely seen a more able or a 
more amiable despot. 

23. His career was indeed bloody, involving in destruction 
vast numbers of his species ; yet he had no tendency to cru- 
elty, except so far as it was necessary to effect his ambitious 
designs, nor any thirst for blood ; and he was always distin- 
guished for his clemency to a vanquished enemy. It has been 
said, by way of apology for him, that it was his misfortune to 
be born in a degenerate age : it was, however, the age in which 
flourished Cicero, Cato, and Brutus, who are ranked among 
the most illustrious of the Roman patriots. 

24. In passing a small village among the Alps on his way to 
take upon himself the government of Spain, before the forma- 
tion of the triumvirate, he remarked, that " he would rather 
be the first man in that village, than the second man in Rome.'" 
He had frequently in his mouth a verse of Eurip'ides, which 
expresses the image of his soul : " That if right and justice 
were ever to be violated, they were to be violated for the sake 
of reigning." 

25. In his military character, he has probably never been 
surpassed. He was so much the idol of his troops, that in any 
important conjuncture, his lieutenant could say nothing more 
impressive to them than, " Soldiers, imagine that Csesar be- 
holds you ! " Alexander was an heir to the throne, and carried 
into execution the splendid conquest which his father had pro- 
jected, overrunning nations sunk in luxury and effeminacy. 
Cresar, originally a private individual, appears as the framer of 
his own fortune, gradually rising, by well-concerted plans, to 
the summit of power, pursuing an uninterrupted career of vic- 
tory, and finally conquering the conquerors of the world. 

28. " We are now contemplating that man," says Muller, 
" who, within the short space of 14 years, subdued Gaul, thick- 
ly inhabited by warlike nations ; twice conquered Spain ; en- 
tered Germany and Britain ; marched through Italy at the head 
of a victorious army ; destroyed the power of Pompey the 
Great ; reduced Egypt to obedience ; saw and defeated Phar- 
naces ; overpowered, in Africa, the great name of Cato and 
the arms of Juba ; fought 50 battles, in which 1,192,000 men 
fell ; was the greatest orator in the world, next to Cicero ; set 
a pattern to all historians, which has never been excelled ; wrote 
learnedly on the sciences of grammar and augury ; and, fall- 
ing by a premature death, left memorials of his great plans for 
the extension of the empire, and the legislation of the world. 
So true it is, that it is not time that is wanting to men, but res- 
olution to turn it to the best advantage." 



ROME. 85 

27. The Roman people were struck with horror at the mur- 
der of Caesar. Although lie was a usurper, and had made 
himself master of their lives and fortunes, yet he was generally- 
popular. His bleeding body was exposed in the forum ; and 
over it Mark Antony, unfolding the bloody robe, pronounced a 
funeral oration ; and by many eloquent appeals to the sympathy 
of the people, he so inflamed their feelings against his murder- 
ers, that they were obliged to escape forthwith from the city, 
in order to avoid destruction. 

28. Mark Antony, a man of great military talents, but of 
most profligate character, Lep'idus, who was possessed of im- 
mense riches, and Octa'vius, or Octavia'nus Cczsar, afterwards 
surnamed Augustus, (the adopted heir of Cresar, and his sister's 
grandson, now only in his 18th year,) concerted a plan to di- 
vide among themselves the supreme authority, and formed the 
Second Triumvirate, the effects of whose union were, beyond 
measure, dreadful to the republic. 

29. They stipulated that all their enemies should be de- 
stroyed, and each sacrificed his best friends to the vengeance 
of his associates. Antony consigned to death his uncle Lu'- 
cius ; Lepidus, his brother Paulus ; and Octavius gave up the 
celebrated Cicero, to whom he was under many obligations, in 
order to gratify the hatred of Antony. The great orator was 
assassinated in his 64th year, by Popillius Lamas, whose life 
he had saved in a capital cause. Antony caused his head to 
be fixed upon the rostra, a spectacle which drew tears from all 
virtuous citizens. Rome was again deluged in blood : in this 
horrible proscription, 300 senators, 2,000 knights, and many 
other respectable citizens, were sacrificed. 

30. Brutus and Cassius, whose object it was to restore the 
commonwealth, had retired to Thrace, and were at the head 
of an army of 100,000 men. Antony and Octavius pursued 
them with a still greater number of troops. The empire of 
the world again depended on the fate of a battle. The two 
armies met near Philippi, and, after a dreadful conflict of two 
days, the death-blow was given to Roman liberty, by the total 
defeat of the republican army. Brutus and Cassius, agreeably 
to a resolution which they had made before the battle, escaped 
the vengeance of their enemies by a voluntary death. 

31. The triumvirs did not long live in harmony. Lep'idus 
was deposed and banished. Antony having summoned Cleo- 
pa'tra to Tarsus, to answer to the charge of having given suc- 
cor to the conspirators, she came decked in all the emblems 
of the queen of love, in a galley decorated in the most splen- 
did style, and had the address to make a complete conquest of 
him. He forgot to decide upon her cause, gave up the pursuit 

8 



86 ROME. 

of ambition, neglected all his affairs, and abandoned himself 
to licentious pleasure with the Egyptian queen. He lavished 
on her the provinces of the empire, for which he was declared 
an enemy to the Roman people ; and on her account he di- 
vorced his wife Octavia, the sister of his colleague, which was 
a signal for open hostilities between him and Octavius. 

32. A great naval battle, fought near Ac'tium, decided the 
contest against Antony and Cleopatra, and left Octavius sole 
master of the empire. Antony, following the example of many 
celebrated Romans, fell upon his own sword ; and Cleopatra, 
in order to avoid being led captive to Rome, to grace the 
triumph of Augustus, procured her own death by the poison 
of an asp. 



SECTION VIII. 

Rome under the Emperors: The Casars; Augustus, Ti- 
berius, Caligula, Claudius, Nero, Galba, Otho, Vitellius, 
Vespasian, Titus, and Domitian. — From B. C. 31 to A. 
D. 96. 

1. The battle of Actium terminated the commonwealth ; 
and Octavius, now named Augustus, being the undisputed 
sovereign of the whole Roman empire, had attained the object 
of his wishes. But, though ambitious of power, he was, never- 
theless, aware of its dangers ; and he consulted his friends, 
Agrippa and Mcece'nas, respecting the course which it was 
advisable for him to pursue. Agrippa entreated him to restore 
liberty to his country ; but Meecenas represented to him the 
danger of renouncing his authority, advised him to govern 
others as he would wish to be governed if it had been his des- 
tiny to obey, and suggested to him that under the title of Ccesar 
or Imperator, he might enjoy all the influence of a king, with- 
out offending the prejudices of his countrymen. 

2. Augustus gave the preference to the advice of Maecenas, 
as it best agreed with his natural love of power. He affected 
an appearance of great moderation and respect for the public 
rights, paid particular attention to the people, and having 
completely gained their affections, he used every means to 
render permanent the attachment which already existed be- 
tween him and his soldiers. It was his policy to change the 
nature, rather than the form of the government, and he had 
the address to rule as emperor, and yet preserve the appear- 
ance of a republic. 

3. The reputation of Augustus, not only as a warrior, but 



ROME. 87 

as a legislator and statesman, extended to the remotest king- 
doms. After having arrived at sovereign power, he engaged 
in some successful military enterprises ; but the general charac- 
ter of his reign was pacific : he cherished the arts of peace, 
embellished the city, erected public edifices, pursued the policy 
of maintaining order and tranquillity throughout his vast em- 
pire, and the temple of Janus was now shut for the first time 
since the commencement of the second Punic war, and only 
the third time from the foundation of the city. 

4. Augustus died in the 76th year of his age, after an illus- 
trious reign of 44 years. His talents were unquestionably 
great ; but the many instances of treachery and cruelty by 
which his conduct was marked, while a member of the trium- 
virate, have left a stain upon his character, and have caused it 
to be generally believed, that the virtues which he afterwards 
manifested, sprung from policy, rather than principle. 

5. The emperor and his minister Maecenas were both em- 
inent patrons of learning and the arts ; and the Augustan age 
of Roman literature has been celebrated by the admiration of 
all succeeding ages. Some of the distinguished men who il- 
lustrated this reign were Virgil, Horace, Ovid, and Livy. 

6. — The reign of Augustus was rendered memorable by 
the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, which took 
place, according to the best authorities, in the 26th year of his 
reign, and four years before the period commonly assigned for 
the Christian era. In the 18th year of Tiberius, our Savior 
suffered death upon the cross. — 

7. Augustus was succeeded by Tibe'rius, who was the son 
of his wife Liv'ia, by a former husband, and who had distin- 
guished himself by his military talents. The new emperor 
commenced his reign by a show of moderation and clemency ; 
but he soon threw off the mask, and appeared in his real char- 
acter, as an odious and cruel tyrant. The specious form of 
the republic, which Augustus had continued, now disappeared, 
as well as the substance. 

8. The brilliant successes of his nephew German'icus, in 
Germany, who had for his antagonist the celebrated German 
general Armin'ius, and the high favor with which he was 
regarded by the people, excited the jealousy of Tiberius, who 
is supposed to have caused him to be poisoned. He then 
took into his confidence Seja'nus, a Roman knight, who be- 
came the minister of the tyranny, rapine, and cruelty, which 
characterized his reign, and who persuaded him to quit Rome, 
and retire to the island of Ca'prece, where he abandoned him- 
self to the most infamous debaucheries. Sejanus was now in 
possession of almost unlimited power, and after a short careet 



88 ROME. 

of despotism, he was accused of treason, suddenly precipitated 
from his elevation, executed by the order of the senate, and 
his body ignominiously dragged through the streets. A few 
years afterwards, the death of Tiberius was hastened by stran- 
gling or poison, by one of his favorites, in the 78th year of his 
age, and the 22d of his reign. 

9. Tiberius adopted for his heir and successor Calig'ula, 
his grand-nephew and the son of Germanicus, who com- 
menced his reign under favorable auspices, and his first acts 
were beneficent and patriotic ; but his subsequent conduct was 
so marked by profligacy, tyranny, madness, and folly, as to 
give countenance to the assertion that a disorder, which took 
place after his accession to power, had destroyed his under- 
standing and altered his nature. He became almost as much 
the object of the contempt, as of the hatred, of his subjects. 
He caused temples to be built, and sacrifices to be offered to 
himself as a divinity. He took such delight in cruelty, that he 
wished " that all the Roman people had but one neck, that he 
might despatch them at a single blow." Seneca says of him, 
that " nature seemed to have brought him forth to show what 
was possible to be produced from the greatest vice, supported 
by the greatest authority." He was assassinated in the 4th 
year of his reign, and the 29th of his age. 

10. After the death of Caligula, the senate were inclined 
to restore the republic ; but, in the general corruption of 
morals, which, since the early part of the reign of Tiberius, 
had surpassed all former example, and extended to all classes 
of the people, the spirit of Roman liberty had disappeared. 
The army preferred an emperor, and Claudius, the uncle of 
Caligula, and the grandson of Mark Antony and Octa'via, the 
sister of Augustus, was raised to the throne. He was a man 
of weak and timid character, a dupe even of his domestics, 
and a slave of his infamous vices. 

11. The most remarkable enterprise in the reign of Claudius, 
was his expedition into Britain, and the conquest of a part of 
that island by his generals. Carac'tacus, a British king, after 
a brave resistance, was taken prisoner, and carried captive to 
Rome, where his magnanimity gained him admiration. On 
being led through the streets, and observing the splendor 
around him, he exclaimed, " How is it possible, that men, pos- 
sessed of such magnificence at home, should envy Caractacus 
an humble cottage in Britain ? " 

12. Claudius had five wives, of whom the fourth was Mes- 
sali'na, whose very name is a proverbial reproach, and who, 
having abandoned herself to the most shameful profligacy, was 
put to death for her crimes. The emperor then married 



ROME. 89 

Agrippi'na, who was equally practised in vice, and who 
poisoned him in the 14th year of his reign, and the 64th of 
his age, in oider to make way for Nero, her son by a former 
husband. 

13. Nero had enjoyed the advantage of a good education 
under the philosopher Sen'eca, and at the commencement of 
his reign, he pursued an excellent plan of government, which 
was laid down by Seneca and Burrhus, (the latter of whom 
was prefect of the pretorian guard,) and which held out the 
prospect of better times ; but he soon got rid of his counsel- 
lors, abandoned himself to rioting and licentiousness, gained a 
notoriety for profligacy and cruelty above that of even all his 
predecessors, and rendered his name proverbial, in all succeed- 
ing ages, as a detestable tyrant. Among the numerous victims, 
who suffered death by his cruelty, were his mother Agrippi'na, 
his wives Octa'via and Poppce'a, Seneca and Burrhus, also Lu- 
can, the poet. 

14. He is charged with having caused the city of Rome to 
be set on fire, in mere wantonness, that it might exhibit the 
representation of the burning of Troy ; and he stood upon a 
high tower that he might enjoy the scene. The conflagration 
continued eight or nine days, and a great part of the city was 
burnt to ashes. In order to avert from himself the public 
odium of the crime, he charged it upon the Christians, who 
had now become numerous in Rome, and commenced against 
them a most dreadful persecution, in which St. Paul was 
beheaded. 

15. Nero, who rendered himself no less contemptible by his 
follies and extravagances than hateful by his crimes, was too 
odious a monster to be long endured. A conspiracy, headed 
by Vindex in Gaul, and Galba in Spain, hurled him, at length, 
from the throne. Galba, in a speech, recapitulating his crimes, 
said : " What enormity has been too great for him ? Is he not 
stained with the blood of his father, his mother, his wife, his 
preceptors, of all those who, in the senate, the city, or the 
provinces, were distinguished by birth, riches, courage, or vir- 
tue ? The blood of these innocent victims cries for vengeance ; 
and since we are possessed of arms, and of power of using 
them, let us disdain to obey, not a prince, but an incendiary, a 
parricide, a singer, and an actor." The senate having passed 
sentence against him, he avoided falling into their hands by a 
voluntary death, in the 14th year of his reign, and the 32d of 
his age. 

16. After the death of Nero, Galba was declared emperor, 
both by the senate and by the legions under his command. 
He was esteemed a man of courage, talents, and virtue, and 

8* 



90 ROME. 

had acquired a high reputation in the command of armies in 
the provinces ; but he was now in the 72d year of his age, and 
he soon became unpopular by his severity and' parsimony, and 
by the abuses practised by his favorites. He adopted for his 
successor the virtuous Piso, a measure which gave offence to 
Ot.ho, his former favorite, who excited a rebellion against him, 
and caused the death both of the emperor and of Piso, after a 
reign of only seven months. Tacitus says of him, that, " Had 
he never ascended the throne, he would have been thought, by 
all, capable of reigning." 

17. Otho was then proclaimed emperor ; but he found a 
formidable rival in ViteVlius, by whose lieutenants he was de- 
feated, and he slew himself after a reign of 95 days. Vitel- 
line, being saluted as emperor, is said to have proposed Nero 
for his model, and rendered himself odious to the people by 
his tyranny and profligacy. Vespa'sian, who was now at the 
head of the Roman army in Egypt, was proclaimed emperor 
by his troops ; Rome was taken by one of his generals, and 
Vitellius was assassinated before he had completed the first 
year of his reign. 

18. Vespa'sian was declared emperor by the unanimous 
consent of the senate and the army ; and on his arrival at 
Rome, he was received with the greatest joy. He had risen 
by his merit from a mean origin ; was distinguished for his 
affability, clemency, and firmness ; and he reigned with high 
popularity for ten years, promoting the welfare of his subjects. 
He restored order, built the celebrated amphitheatre or Col- 
iseum, whose ruins still attest its grandeur, cherished the arts, 
and patronized learned men, among whom were Josephus, 
the Jewish historian, Quintilian, the orator, and Pliny, the 
naturalist. 

19. The reign of Vespasian is memorable for the destruc- 
tion of Jerusalem, which was effected by his son Titus, after 
a tremendous siege of six months, the city being taken and 
razed to the ground, so that, according to the prediction of our 
Savior, " not one stone remained upon another." The num- 
ber that perished in this siege, according to Josephus, amounted 
to upwards of a million, and the captives to almost a hundred 
thousand. The wretched survivors were banished, sold, and 
driven into various parts of the world, and have continued to 
this time a dispersed, yet a distinct people, and a monument 
of the truth of Revelation. 

20. Vespasian was succeeded by his son Titus, who ex- 
hibited such an example of justice, humanity, and generosity, 
that he obtained the enviable appellation of the " Delight of 
mankind." Recollecting, one evening, that he had done no 



ROME. 91 

beneficent act during that day, he made the celebrated excla- 
mation, " My friends, I have lost a day ! " During his reign 
happened that dreadful eruption of Vesuvius, which over- 
whelmed the cities of Hercula'neum and Pompe'ii, and caused 
the death of Pliny, the naturalist. Titus died in the 3d year 
of his reign, and the 41st of his age, not without suspicion of 
being poisoned by his brother Domi'tian, who succeeded him. 

21. Domitian was another monster of profligacy and cru- 
elty. He caused himself to be worshipped as a god ; put to 
death the most illustrious Romans, and took pleasure in wit- 
nessing the torture of his victims. He banished the philos- 
ophers from Rome, and raised a dreadful persecution against 
the Christians. When secluded from the world, he passed his 
time in vicious and degrading amusements. He was so much 
in the habit of catching flies, and piercing them through with 
a bodkin, that one of his servants, being asked if any one was 
with the emperor, answered, " Not even a fly." 

22. After a reign of 15 years, Domitian was assassinated 
at the instigation of his wife, who had discovered that he had 
put her name on the list of those whom he designed to destroy. 
This reign was signalized by the successes of the Romans in 
Britain, under the command of Agric'ola, a great general, who 
had been sent into that country by Vespasian, and who made 
an entire conquest of all the southern part of the island. 

23. Domitian was the last of those emperors who are called 
the Ttvelve Ccesars, Julius Ccesar, the dictator, being consid- 
ered the first ; though Augustus was the first that is generally 
styled emperor, and Nero was, in reality, the last emperor of 
the family of Augustus. 



SECTION IX. 

Nerva : Trajan : Adrian : Antoninus Pius : Marcus Aurelius 
Antoninus. — From A. D. 96 to 180. 

1. After the death of Domitian, the senate elected for his 
successor Nerva, who was 65 years old, and venerable for his 
virtues, as well as for his age. He was distinguished for clem- 
ency, but did not possess energy sufficient to repress the dis- 
orders of the empire. Having adopted Trajan for his succes- 
sor, he died after a reign of 16 months. 

2. Trajan, who was a native of Seville, in Spain, is esteem- 
ed the greatest and most powerful, and one of the most virtu- 
ous, of the Roman emperors. He has been highly commended 



92 ROME. 

for his affability, his simplicity of manners, his clemency, and 
munificence. He was the greatest general of his age, pos- 
sessed an ardent spirit of enterprise, accustomed himself to 
hardship, and, even after he ascended the throne, marched on 
foot, at the head of his troops, over extensive regions. On 
presenting the sword to the pretorian prefect, he gave this re- 
markable charge : "Make use of it for me, if I do my duty ; 
if I do not, against me.' 1 The senate conferred on him the 
surname of Optimus, or Best ; and for more than 200 years, 
that body was accustomed to hail every new emperor with the 
exclamation, " Reign fortunately, as Augustus ; virtuously, as 
Trajan." 

3. During the reign of Trajan, the boundaries of the empire 
were more extensive than either before or afterwards. He 
subdued the Dacians, conquered the Parthians, and brought 
under subjection Assyria, Mesopotamia, and Arabia Felix. 
In commemoration of his victories over the Dacians, he erect- 
ed a pillar, which bears his name, and which still remains in 
Rome, one of the most remarkable ancient monuments in the 
city. 

4. He was a munificent patron of literature, and in his reign 
flourished Pliny the Younger, Juvenal, and Plutarch. He 
died, greatly lamented by his subjects, in the 20th year of his 
reign, and the 63d of his age. The character of this great 
prince was tarnished by a want of equity with regard to the 
Christians, whom he suffered to be persecuted. 

5. Trajan was succeeded by A'drian, his nephew, who was 
an able sovereign, generally beneficent and equitable in his 
government ; distinguished also for his eloquence and his taste 
in the liberal arts ; but he was, nevertheless, chargeable with 
cruelty and licentiousness. Judging the limits of the empire too 
extensive, he abandoned the conquests of Trajan, declined 
war, devoted himself to the arts of peace, and promoted the 
welfare of his subjects. He undertook to visit, in person, all 
the provinces of the empire, in which expedition he spent 13 
years. In his progress, he reformed abuses, relieved his sub- 
jects from burdens, and rebuilt cities. While in Britain, he 
erected a turf wall or rampart across the island, from Carlisle 
to Newcastle, in order to prevent the incursions of the Picts. 

6. He rebuilt Jerusalem, and changed its name to 2E'lia 
Capitoli'na. The Jews, incensed at the privileges which the 
pagan worshippers enjoyed in the new city, made a great 
slaughter of the Romans and Christians residing in Judea ; in 
consequence of which, the emperor sent against them a pow- 
erful army, which destroyed upwards of 1,000 of their best 
towns, and slew nearly 600,000 men. Adrian adopted for his 



ROME. V* 

successor Titus Antoni'nus, and died in the 22d year of his 
reign, and the 62d of his age. 

7. Titus Antoninus, more commonly called Antoninus 
Pius, had a reign of 23 years, which was marked by few 
striking events ; but it will ever be distinguished in the Roman 
annals for the public and private virtues which exalted his 
character. It was his favorite maxim, that u he would rather 
save the life of one citizen, than to put to death a thousand en- 
emies." 

8. This excellent sovereign adopted for his successor his 
son-in-law, Marcus Aure'lius Antoni'nus, surnamed the Phi- 
losopher. He is esteemed the best model of pagan virtue 
among the Roman emperors ; and " appeared," says an an- 
cient author, " like some benevolent deity, diffusing around 
him universal peace and happiness." He was attached, both 
by nature and education, to the Stoic philosophy, which he 
admirably exemplified in his life, as well as illustrated in his 
work, entitled " Meditations.'''' 

9. Distinguished as the two Antonines were for justice and 
humanity, yet the persecution of the Christians was permitted, 
in some degree, during their reigns. It was to the former of 
the two that Justin Martyr presented his first " Apology for 
Christianity " ; and the Roman army under the latter expe- 
rienced, by means of a thunder-storm, a remarkable deliver- 
ance, which has been represented by many as miraculous, and 
which gave to a legion of Christians, then serving under Aure- 
lius, the name of the Thundering Legion. — The name of the 
wife of each of these emperors was Fausti'na, and both of 
them were noted as women of the most abandoned character. 

10. Aurelius died in the 19th year of his reign, and the 
59th of his age. He was the last of the sovereigns styled 
" The five good emperors " ; and the glory and prosperity of 
the Roman people seemed to perish with him. From this 
time, we behold a succession of sovereigns, who, with few ex- 
ceptions, were either weak or vicious ; an empire grown too 
large, sinking by its own weight, surrounded by barbarous and 
successful enemies without, and torn by ambitious and cruel 
factions within ; the principles of the times wholly corrupted ; 
and patriotism, virtue, and literature gradually becoming al- 
most extinct. 



94 ROME. 

SECTION X. 

From Commodus to Constantine. — From A. D. 180 to 306. 

1. Aurelius was succeeded by his most unworthy son Com'- 
rnodus, who resembled his mother Fausti'na, and equalled even 
Nero in profligacy and cruelty. He was assassinated in the 
13th year of his reign, and the 32d of his age ; and Per'tinax, 
a man of mean birth, who had risen by his merit, and who, 
from the various conditions through which he passed, was 
styled " the tennis-ball of fortune," was proclaimed his suc- 
cessor by the pretorian guards. But the new emperor, giving 
offence by his severity in correcting abuses, was, after a reign 
of three months, put to death by the same hands that had 
placed him on the throne. 

2. The empire was now put up to sale by the soldiers, and 
was purchased by Did'ius Julia'nus, who was murdered in the 
fifth month of his reign, by order of Seplim'ius Seve'rus, who 
was proclaimed emperor in his stead. He had two competitors 
for the empire, Niger and Albi'nus, both of whom were en- 
tirely defeated. Severus was an able warrior, and governed 
with ability, yet with despotic rigor. He made an expedition 
into Britain, and built a stone wall extending from Solway frith 
to the German ocean, and nearly parallel to that of Adrian. 
He died at York, in the 18th year of his reign. 

3. Seve'rus left the empire to his two sons, Caracal'la and 
Geta, the former of whom murdered the latter ; and after a 
tyrannical reign of six years, he was himself assassinated at 
the instigation of Macri'nus, who succeeded to the throne, and 
who, after a reign of 14 months, was supplanted by Heliogab'- 
alus, who caused him to be put to death. 

4. Heliogab'alus succeeded to the throne when only 14 
years old ; yet, at this early age, he showed himself to be a 
monster of vice, equalling the worst of his predecessors in ex- 
travagance, profligacy, and cruelty. He was murdered in the 
4th year of his reign ; yet, in this short period, he had ex- 
hausted all the resources of pleasure, and had married and 
divorced six wives. 

5. Heliogabalus was succeeded by his cousin, Alexander 
Seve'rus, a mild, beneficent, and enlightened prince, whose 
excellent character shines the brig-hter from the contrast of 
those who preceded and followed him. He was murdered in 
the 14th year of his reign, and the 29th of his age, at the in- 
stigation of Max'imin, the son of a herdsman of Thrace, and 
a Goth by nation, who succeeded to the throne, and who was 



ROME. 95 

nearly eight feet and a half in height, and not less remarkable 
for the symmetry of his person, and his extraordinary strength, 
than his gigantic stature ; and was also distinguished for his 
military talents. 

6. The interval from the time of Alexander Seve'rus to that 
of Diocle'tian was filled by 16 reigns ; those of Max'imin, 
Max'imus and Balbi'nus, Gor'dian, Philip, De'cius, Gallus, 
iEmilia'nus, Vale'rian, Gallie'nus, Clau'dius, Aure'lian, Ta/- 
itus, Flo'rian, Probus, Cams, Cari'nus, and Nume'rian ; a 
period of 49 years, which furnishes little that is pleasing or 
interesting. The short reigns of most of these emperors were 
alike disastrous to themselves and their subjects ; and all of 
them, except Claudius and Tacitus, were cut off by a violent 
death. 

7. The emperor Vale'rian, in a war with Sapor, king of 
Persia, was defeated and taken prisoner. Sapor treated his 
captive with the greatest indignity and cruelty : he used him 
as a footstool in mounting his horse ; afterwards ordered his 
eyes to be plucked out, and finally caused him to be flayed 
alive. 

8. The reign of Aure'lian, which lasted only five years, 
was noted for military achievements. He was distinguished 
for great talents, as well as great severity, as a general ; and 
for courage and promptitude, has been compared with Julius 
Csesar. He defeated the Goths and Germans, who had begun 
to harass the Romans ; but his most renowned victory was that 
over Zeno'hia, the famous queen of Palmy'ra, who was taken 
captive ; and her secretary Longi'nus, the celebrated critic, 
was slain, by order of the conqueror. On his return to Rome, 
Aurelian was honored with one of the most splendid triumphs 
ever witnessed in that city. Zenobia was reserved to grace 
this grand show, bound in chains of gold, and overloaded with 
a profusion of pearls and diamonds. 

9. Diocle'tian, who was the son of a Dalmatian slave, rose 
by his merit from the rank of a common soldier to that of a 
great commander, and, on the death of Cari'nus and Nume'- 
rian, was acknowledged emperor. He began his reign in 284, 
and two years afterwards associated with himself in the 
government his friend Maxim'ian ; and in 292, they took two 
other colleagues, Gale'rius and Constan'tius, each bearing the 
title of Ccesar. The empire was now divided into four parts, 
under the government of two emperors and two Casars, each 
being nominally supreme ; but, in reality, under the direction 
of the superior talents of Diocletian. 

10. In this reign happened the 10th and last great persecu- 
tion against the Christians, which raged for several years. It 



96 ROME. 

was more bloody than any that had preceded it, and was so 
nearly fatal, that the tyrants boasted that they had extinguished 
the Christian name. 

11. Diocletian, in the latter part of his reign, experienced 
a series of calamities, and he and his colleague Maxim'ian, 
resigned the government into the hands of the two Csesars. 
He then retired to his native country, Dalmatia, and built a 
magnificent palace near the town of Salo'na, where he lived 
eight or nine years, and amused himself in cultivating his 
garden. He declared that he here enjoyed more happiness 
than when adorned with the imperial purple ; and was often 
heard to exclaim, " Now it is that I live ; now I see the beauty 
of the sun ! " 



SECTION XI. 

From the Accession of Constantine to the Extinction of the 
Western Empire. — From A. D. 306 to 476. 

1. Constantius died at York, in Britain, having appointed his 
son Constantine, his successor ; Galerius also died four years 
after ; and Constantine, surnamed the Great, having defeated 
all his competitors, became sole master of the empire. One 
of the principal competitors for the crown was Maxen'tius ; 
and historians relate that when Constantine was marching at 
the head of his army against this rival, he beheld in the 
heavens a luminous cross, with an inscription in Greek, tovtco 
viKa, " Conquer by this " ; and that, in consequence of this 
vision and of the success which attended his arms, he embraced 
Christianity. 

2. But whatever may have been the circumstance which 
first attracted the favorable notice of Constantine, he became 
the avowed friend and supporter of Christianity, and has the 
honor of being enrolled as the first Christian emperor. He 
put an end to the persecution of the Christians, and also to 
the combats of gladiators, and other barbarous exhibitions. 
His reign forms an important era in ecclesiastical history, as 
the Roman government now became the professed protector 
of the religion which it had repeatedly and cruelly persecuted. 

3. An important event in the reign of Constantine, was the 
removal of the seat of empire from Rome to Byzan'tium, 
which latter city, from him, took the name of Constantinople. 
The empire had long been verging to ruin, and this measure 
is thought to haVe hastened its downfall. Constantine died in 
the 31st year of his reign, and the 63d of his age. His 



ROME. 97 

character has been variously represented by different writers. 
" It is manifest," says Miiller, " that the genius of Constan- 
tine, fertile, if not happy, at least in specious ideas, gave a 
new direction to the course of human affairs. He maintained 
peace by the reputation of his arms ; and his name, alternate- 
ly too much exalted and unjustly degraded by prejudiced his- 
torians, deserves an honorable mention among the monarchs 
of the Roman world." 

4. Constantino divided the empire between his three sons, 
Con'stantine II, Con'stans, and Constan'tius II, and two 
nephews. In the space of a few years, all these princes were 
slain, except Constantius, the youngest of the sons, who re- 
mained sole master of the empire. He had a weak and un- 
fortunate reign of 24 years, during which the empire was 
harassed and weakened by the inroads of the barbarians from 
the north, and the incursions of the Persians on the eastern 
provinces. 

5. Constantius was succeeded by his cousin Julian, sur- 
named the Apostate, because, after having received a Chris- 
tian education, he relapsed into paganism. He was possessed 
of considerable talents and learning, and of many heroic qual- 
ities ; but was the slave of the most bigoted superstition. He 
restored the pagan worship, and attempted to suppress Chris- 
tianity. He undertook to reassemble the Jews, and rebuild 
their temple ; but his design is stated, by a number of ancient 
writers, to have been miraculously defeated by the eruption of 
fire-balls from the ground. Julian was killed in a war with 
the Persians, in the second year of his reign, and the 32d of 
his age. 

6. Julian was succeeded by Jo'vian, who restored the Chris- 
tian religion, and recalled Athanasius, who had been banished 
by Julian ; but he died after a short reign of seven months. Val- 
entin'ian, who was then chosen emperor, associated with him- 
self his brother Valens, giving him the eastern provinces, 
which occasioned the final separation of the empire into East- 
ern and Western. The barbarians continued to make inroads 
into different parts of the empire, and the Goths now obtained 
a settlement in Thrace. 

7. The successor of Valentinian was his son Gra'tian, who, 
on the death of Valens, associated with himself Theodo'sius, 
afterwards surnamed the Great. After the death of Gratian, 
and his brother Valentinian II, Theodosius became sole mas- 
ter of the empire. His reign was signalized by the complete 
establishment of Christianity, and the downfall of paganism in 
the Roman dominions. Being an able and politic sovereign, 
he repelled the encroachments of the barbarians, and by his 

9 



98 ROME. 

wise administration, strengthened, in some measure, the em- 
pire, which had, for a considerable time, been hastening to its 
fall. He was the last sovereign who presided over both divis- 
ions of the empire ; and, after a reign of 16 years, he was 
succeeded by his sons, Hono'rius in the West, and Arca'dius 
in the East. 

8. Through the weakness of Honorius and Arcadius, the 
barbarians were enabled to establish and strengthen themselves 
in their territories. The Goths, under the conduct of the fa- 
mous AVaric, spread their devastations to the very walls of 
Constantinople, and filled all Greece with the terror of their 
arms. Alaric then penetrated into Italy, at the head of a large 
army ; but he was defeated with great loss by the Romans, un- 
der StiVicho. After the death of Stilicho, Alaric invaded the 
country a second time, and being joined by 300,000 auxilia- 
ries, he took and pillaged several cities of Italy, and at length 
pitched his camp before the walls of Rome. This great city, 
which had long sat as mistress of the world, and had for ages 
enriched herself with the spoils of vanquished nations, was 
now reduced to the greatest extremities by famine and pesti- 
lence. 

9. After the famine had made the most dreadful ravages, 
Alaric entered Rome, deprived Honorius of the imperial dig- 
nity, and gave up the city to be plundered by his soldiers. 
" All the riches of the world," said Alaric in addressing his 
army, " are here concentrated : to you I abandon them : but 
I command you to spill the blood of none but those whom you 
find in arms ; and to spare such as take refuge in the church- 
es." The fearful devastation continued for six days, during 
which, these fierce barbarians indulged their cruelty and feroc- 
ity without pity or restraint. 

10. Alaric died immediately after this conquest ; and the 
Goths, having elected in his stead Ataul'phus, for their lead- 
er, took possession of the southern part of Gaul, and likewise 
passed over the mountains, and founded their kingdom in 
Spain. 

11. A few years after the sacking of Rome by Alaric, 
commenced the sanguinary ravages of the Huns, a barbarous 
people of Scythian origin, under the command of their fero- 
cious king At'tila, styled the Scourge of God. Having rav- 
aged the Eastern Empire, he invaded Gaul with an army of 
500,000 men ; and, on the plains of Chalons, was defeated 
by the combined forces of the Romans, under M'tius (who is 
styled by Gibbon " the last of the Romans "), and the Goths, 
under Theod'oric, with a loss, according to the lowest ac- 
counts, of 160,000 men. Notwithstanding this defeat, he 



ROME. 99 

soon after invaded Italy, extended his ravages to the gates of 
Rome, and compelled Valentinian III. to purchase a peace, 
by an immense dowry to be given to him with the emperor's 
sister Hono'ria. But the death of Attila soon followed, and 
by this event the earth was delivered from a warrior who had 
never suffered Europe to enjoy any repose, and who had never 
enjoyed any himself. 

12. Valentinian III. being assassinated at the instigation of 
Petro'nius Max'imus, who was saluted emperor, the empress 
Eudox'ia invited Gen'seric, king of the Vandals, to take ven- 
geance on the murderer of her husband. He eagerly em- 
braced the opportunity of disguising his rapacious designs, 
landed in Italy with a numerous army of Moors and Vandals, 
took the city of Rome, and gave it up to his soldiers to be pil- 
laged, with implacable fury, for 11 days ; during which those 
monuments of art and literature, which Alaric had spared, 
were ransacked and destroyed. 

13. From the death of Valentinian III., the Western Empire 
dragged on a precarious and lingering existence, under nine 
successive emperors, for 21 years, till it was finally terminat- 
ed, in 476, by the resignation of the last emperor, Rom'ulus 
Augus'tulus, to Odoa'cer, the chief of the Her'uli, who assumed 
the title of king of Italy ; and from this period the history of 
Rome merges into that of Italy. 

14. " Such was the end of this great empire, that had con- 
quered the world with its arms, and instructed mankind with 
its wisdom ; that had risen by temperance, and that fell by 
luxury ; that had been established by a spirit of patriotism, 
and that sunk into ruin when the empire had become so ex- 
tensive that the title of a Roman citizen was but an empty 
name." 



SECTION XII. 

The Kingdom of the Heruli, of the Goths, and of the Lom- 
bards in Italy. — The Eastern Empire, to its Extinction 
in 1453. 

1. The kingdom of the Her'uli, in Italy, continued only 
about 17 years ; at the end of which period, Theod'oric the 
Great, king of the Ostrogoths, or Eastern Goths, defeated 
and slew Odoacer, made himself master of all Italy, was ac- 
knowledged sovereign of the country, and fixed his residence 
at Raven'na. Theod'otus, the third Gothic king of Italy, was 



100 ROME. 

defeated and slain by Belisa'rius, the general of Justinian, 
who made himself master of Rome. But the Ostrogoths, 
under the brave Tot'ila, recovered their authority, but were, 
in turn, utterly defeated, after their dominion in Italy had 
lasted 64 years, by Narses, who succeeded Belisarius, and 
who governed Italy 13 years. 

2. Narses having been recalled by Justin II., the successor 
of Justinian, invited Alboin, king of the Lombards, or Lon'- 
gobards, to avenge his injury. Alboin overran and subdued 
the country, was proclaimed king, and made Pavia the capital 
of his dominions. The kingdom of the Lombards, in Italy, 
during the successive reigns of 22 kings, lasted 206 years, till 
774, when Deside'rius, or Didier, was defeated by Charle- 
magne, and Italy was afterwards incorporated into the new 
Empire of the West. The period which elapsed from the 
death of Theodosius the Great to the establishment of the 
Lombards in Italy, was one of the most calamitous and dis- 
tressing in the history of the world. 

3. The Goths were originally from Scandina'via, and were 
distinguished for hospitality and heroic virtues. At the time 
of their taking Rome, under Alaric, they had partially em- 
braced Christianity. The Ostrogoths and Visigoths, or East- 
ern Goths and Western Goths, were so called from their situa- 
tion. The Her'uli were of Gothic origin ; and the Lombards 
were originally either from Scandinavia or the north of 
Germany. 

4. The Eastern Empire, called also the Greek Empire, and 
the Empire of Constantinople, although it suffered from the 
ravages of the barbarous nations who overthrew the Western 
Empire, yet it resisted their attacks, and subsisted more than 
11 centuries, from the time of its foundation by Constantine. 
This long period furnishes but few events which are particu- 
larly interesting. 

5. This empire was in the meridian of its glory in the 6th 
century, during the long reign of Justin'ian, sometimes styled 
the Great, who published a celebrated code of laws, prepared 
by Tribo'nian, a great lawyer of that age. This code is 
regarded as the foundation of the jurisprudence of modern 
Europe. 

6. During the reign of Justinian, Belisarius and Narses, 
the two most renowned generals of the age, defended the em- 
pire against the Persians, recovered Africa from the Vandals, 
and Italy from the Goths, and obtained several great victories 
over these fierce enemies. Justinian built the church of St. 
Sophia, which is now a Mahometan mosque. He and some 



ROME. 101 

of his successors patronized the arts and learning, and en- 
deavored to revive a taste for literature and science in the 
dark ages ; yet the majority of these emperors were weak 
sovereigns, debased by luxury and vice. 

7. After the removal of the seat of empire, there arose a 
nvalship between the pope or bishop of Rome, and the patri- 
arch of Constantinople, each contending for the precedence. 
This controversy, which occupies a prominent place in the 
history of the times, finally terminated in the entire separation 
of the Western or Roman, and the Eastern or Greek Churches. 

8. In 1204, the crusaders took and pillaged Constantinople, 
and proclaimed their leader, Baldwin, count of Flanders, 
sovereign of the empire. They kept possession of the throne 
till 1261, under the reign of five French or Latin emperors. 
During this period, the Greek emperors made Nice the seat of 
their power. 

9. In 1453, during the reign of Constantine XII., Ma'homet 
II., at the head of 300,000 Turks, besieged and took Constanti- 
nople, and gave up the city to be plundered by his soldiers. 
He put a final end to the Eastern Empire ; and since that 
event, Constantinople has continued the seat of the Turkish 
government. 



SECTION XIII. 

Roman Antiquities. 

1. Some account of the origin and nature of most of the 
principal offices, or magistracies, in the Roman government, 
and also of the division of the inhabitants, has already been 
given. 

2. The whole structure of the constitution under the mon- 
archy has, upon the authority of Dionysius of Halicarnas- 
sus, been attributed, by most authors, to Romulus, a leader of 
a band of shepherds or fugitives. Yet it is doubtless true, that 
the Roman government, like most others, was the gradual 
result of circumstances ; the fruit of time, and of political 
emergency. 

3. In addition to the divisions of the people, which are at- 
tributed to Romulus, into three tribes, each of them consisting 
of 10 curia, and into two orders, patricians and plebeians, fur- 
ther subdivisions were afterwards made. To the three tribes, 
into which the city was at first divided, Servius Tullius added 
a fourth ; and the four tribes were named, from the quarters 

9* 



102 ROME. 

where they dwelt, the Pal'atine, Subur'ran, Col'latine, and 
Es'quiline. Augustus afterwards divided the city into 14 
wards. 

4. Besides this local division, Servius distributed the citizens 
into six classes, and each class into several centuries, or por- 
tions of citizens, so called, not because they consisted of 100, 
but because they were obliged to furnish and maintain 100 
men in time of war. The six classes were formed according 
to their property ; the first consisting of the richest citizens, 
and the sixth, which was the most numerous, of the poorest. 
The whole number of centuries was 193. 

5. To the two orders of patricians and plebeians, there was 
afterwards added the equestrian order, composed of equites, 
or knights, who were chosen under the direction of the censor, 
and presented with a horse at the public expense, and a gold 
ring. They were taken promiscuously from those of the pa- 
tricians and plebeians who had attained their 18th year, and 
whose fortune amounted to =£3,229. 

6. There were, besides, some other distinctions among the 
Roman people, as nooiles, the noble, including those whose 
ancestors had held the office of consul, pretor, censor, or 
curule edile, and who had a right to make images of them- 
selves. The homines novi, or new men, were persons who 
were the first of their families that had raised themselves to 
any of the above offices. The ignobiles, or ignoble, were 
those who had no images of their own, or of their ancestors. 
Those whose parents had always been free were called in- 
gen'ui; and those who had been slaves, but had been made 
free, were styled liberti, and libertini. 

7. The Roman citizens were not merely those who resided 
in the city and Roman territory, but the freedom of the city 
was granted to other parts of Italy, and afterwards to foreign 
cities and towns in the empire, whose inhabitants, thereby > en- 
joyed the same rights as the Romans. 

8. The slaves were an unfortunate class of persons, who 
performed all domestic services, and were employed also in 
various trades and manufactures. They were considered as 
mere property, at the absolute disposal of their owners, and 
were publicly sold in a market-place. Men became slaves by 
being taken in war, or by being born in a state of servitude ; 
criminals also were reduced to slavery by way of punishment. 

9. Kings. The kings of Rome were not absolute or hered- 
itary, but limited and elective. They could neither enact laws, 
nor make war or peace, without the concurrence of the senate 
and people. Their badges were a white robe, adorned with 



ROME. 103 

stripes of purple, or fringed with the same color, a golden 
crown, and an ivory sceptre. They sat in the curule chair, 
which was a chair of state, made or adorned with ivory ; and 
they were attended by 12 lictors, carrying fasces, which were 
bundles of rods with an axe [securis] stuck in the middle. 

10. Senate. The senate at first consisted of 100 members, 
but was afterwards increased to 300 by Tarquin the Elder ; 
and near the dissolution of the republic, it comprised upwards 
of 1000. The senators were at first nominated by the kings ; 
but they were afterwards chosen by the consuls, and at last by 
the censors. This body was usually assembled three times a 
month, but was frequently called together on other days for 
special business. A decree, passed by a majority of the sen- 
ate, and approved by the tribunes of the people, was termed 
senatus consultum. The senators were styled patres, or fa- 
thers, on account of their age, gravity, and the paternal care 
they had of the state. From them the patricians derived their 
designation, because the senate was, at first, composed wholly 
of that order. 

11. Magistrates in general. The magistrates in the Roman 
republic were elective, and previous to their election they were 
called Candida' ti [candidates], from a white robe which they 
wore while soliciting the votes of the people. 

12. The Roman magistrates were divided into ordinary, ex- 
traordinary, and provincial. The ordinary magistrates were 
those who were created at stated times, and were constantly in 
the republic : the chief of these were the consuls, censors, 
tribunes, ediles, and questors. The extraordinary were such as 
rose out of some public disorder or emergency : these were 
the dictator and the master of the horse, who commanded the 
cavalry ; the decemvirs, the military tribunes, and the inter- 
rex. The provincial magistrates were those who were appoint- 
ed to the government of the provinces. These were at first 
pretors, afterwards pro-consuls and pro-pretors, to whom were 
joined questors and lieutenants. 

13. Consuls. The consuls had the same badges as the 
kings, with the exception of the crown ; and their authority 
was nearly equal, except that it was limited to one year. In 
dangerous conjunctures, they were clothed with absolute pow- 
er, by a solemn decree, " that the consuls take care the com- 
monwealth receive no harm." In order to be a candidate for 
the consulship, it was requisite to be 43 years of age. 

14. Pretors. The pretor, who was next in dignity to the 
consuls, and in their absence supplied their place, was appoint- 
ed to administer justice. He presided in the assemblies of the 
people, convened the senate upon any emergency, and exhibit- 



J 04 ROME. 

ed certain public games. There was at first but one pretor, 
then two, afterwards more. 

15. Censors. The office of censor was esteemed more hon- 
orable than that of consul, although attended with less power. 
There were two censors, chosen every five years, and their 
most important duty was performed every fifth year, in taking 
the census of the people ; after which they made a solemn 
lustration, or expiatory sacrifice, in the Campus Martins, in 
the name of the people. 

16. Tribunes. The office of the tribunes was instituted 
merely to protect the plebeians against the patricians ; but the 
tribunes gradually acquired very great power. 

17. Ediles. The ediles were so named from their office, 
which was the care of the public edifices, baths, aqueducts, 
roads, markets, &c. They were of two kinds ; plebeian ediles, 
who were assistants to the tribunes ; and curule ediles, who su- 
perintended the public games. 

18. Questors. The questors were elected by the people to 
take care of the public revenue. At first there were only two, 
but several more were afterwards added. The military ques- 
tors accompanied the army, and took care of the payment of 
the soldiers. The provincial questors attended the consuls or 
pretors into their provinces, and received the taxes and tribute. 

19. Assemblies of the people. An assembly of the whole 
Roman people, to give their vote on any subject, was called 
comi'tia. There were three kinds of comi'tia ; the curia'ta, 
the centuria'ta, and the tribu'ta. The comitia were summoned, 
by some magistrate, to pass laws, to elect magistrates, to de- 
cide concerning peace and war, and to try persons guilty of 
certain heinous crimes. 

20. The comitia curiata consisted of an assembly of the 
resident Roman citizens, who were divided into 30 curia, a 
majority of which determined all matters of importance which 
were laid before them. 

21. The comitia centuriata were the principal assembly of 
the people, in which they gave their votes, divided into the cen- 
turies of their classes, according to the census. At these comi- 
tia, the consuls, pretors, and censors were created, the most 
important laws enacted, cases of high treason tried, and war 
declared. They met in the Campus Martins, and all Roman 
citizens, whether residing in the city or country, had a right to 
be present and vote with their respective centuries. 

22. The comitia tributa were an assembly, in which the 
people voted divided into tribes, according to their regions or 
wards. They were held to create inferior magistrates, to elect 
certain priests, to make laws, and hold trials. 



ROME. 105 

23. The comitia continued to be assembled for upwards of 
700 years, when that liberty was abridged by Julius Ccesar, 
and after him by Augustus, each of whom shared the right of 
creating magistrates with the people. Tiberius deprived the 
people altogether of the right of election. 

24. Priests. The ministers of religion did not form a dis- 
tinct order from the Roman citizens, but were chosen from the 
most honorable men in the state. Some of the priests were 
common to all the gods ; others were appropriated to a partic- 
ular deity : of the former kind, the most important were the 
pontif'ices, the au'gures, the harus'pices, the quindecim'viri, 
and the septem'viri ; who were all subject to the pont'ifex max'' 
imus, or high priest, chosen by the people. 

25. The pontifices among the Romans were priests, 15 in 
number, who judged all causes relating to religion, regulated 
the feasts, sacrifices, and all other sacred institutions, and in- 
spected the lives and manners of the inferior priests. The 
pontifex maximus, or high priest, was a person of great digni- 
ty and authority : he held his office for life, and all the other 
priests were subject to him. 

26. The augur es, or augurs, were 15 in number, and were 
of great authority. It was their office to foretell future events, 
to interpret dreams, oracles, prodigies, &c, and to say whether 
any action would be fortunate or not. They divined the future 
chiefly in five ways ; — from the appearance of the heavens, as 
thunder and lightning ; from the singing or flight of birds ; 
from the feeding of chickens ; from quadrupeds ; and from un- 
common accidents, as sneezing, stumbling, seeing apparitions, 
&c. &c. 

27. The haruspices were priests whose business it was to 
look upon the beasts offered in sacrifice, and by them to divine 
the success of any enterprise, and to obtain omens of futurity. 
They derived their omens from the entrails of beasts ; also 
from the flame, smoke, and other circumstances attending the 
sacrifice. 

28. The quindecimviri were 15 priests who had the charge 
of the Sibylline books, which were three prophetic volumes, 
said to have been procured from a woman of extraordinary ap- 
pearance, in the time of Tarquin the Proud. They were sup- 
posed to contain the fate of the Roman empire, and were kept 
in a stone chest under the Capitol. 

29. The septemviri were seven priests who prepared the 
sacred feasts at the games, processions, and other solemn oc- 
casions ; and they were also assistants to the pontifices. 

30. The priests of particular deities were called Flam'ines : 



106 ROME. 

the chief of them were the Dia'lis, priest of Jupiter; the 
Salii, priests of Mars ; the Lupe'vii, priests of Pan ; the Po- 
ti'tii, priests of Hercules ; the Gal'li, priests of Cyb'ele ; and 
the Vestal Virgins, consecrated to the worship of Vesta. 

31. The Romans worshipped their gods in temples conse- 
crated by the augurs ; also in groves. Their worship con- 
sisted chiefly in prayer, vows, and sacrifice. 

32. Festivals. The Romans celebrated feasts in January in 
honor of Janus ; in February were the Luperca'lia, or feasts 
of Pan, and the Fera'lia, in honor of ghosts or spirits of the 
deceased ; in March, the Matrona'lia, a feast kept by the Ro- 
man matrons, and the Quinqua'tria, in honor of Minerva ; in 
April, the Cerea'lia, in honor of Ceres ; in December, the 
Saturna'lia, or the feasts of Saturn, the most famous of all the 
festivals. There were, besides, many other festivals. 

33. Games. The shows exhibited in the circus maximus 
were chariot and horse-races ; contests of strength and agility ; 
mock fights on horseback ; combats of wild beasts ; repre- 
sentations of horse and foot battles ; and nauma'chice, or mock 
naval battles. 

34. Gladiators. The gladiators were persons who fought 
with weapons in a public circus or amphitheatre, for the 
amusement of the people. These combats were introduced 
about the 400th year of the city, and became a most favorite 
entertainment. The combatants were, at first, composed of 
captives, slaves, and condemned malefactors, who were regu- 
larly trained for the combat ; but in the more degenerate pe- 
riod of the empire, free-born citizens, and even senators, en- 
gaged in this disgraceful and dangerous amusement. Great 
numbers of men were destroyed in these inhuman exhibitions. 
After the triumph of Trajan over the Dacians, spectacles were 
exhibited for 123 days, in which 11,000 animals of different 
kinds were killed, and 10,000 gladiators fought. 

35. Triumph. A triumph was a solemn procession, in 
which a victorious general and his army advanced through 
the city to the Capitol. It was the highest military honor 
which could be obtained in the Roman state, and was reserved 
for those generals who, by hard-earned victories and glorious 
achievements, had added to the territories of the common- 
wealth, or had delivered the state from threatened danger. 
The procession began from the Campus Martius, and passed 
through the most public places in the city to the Capitol ; the 
streets being strewed with flowers, and the altars smoking with 
incense. It was composed of musicians, oxen for sacrifice, 
carriages carrying the spoils taken from the enemy, the cap- 
tive kings or leaders and their attendants, and after the whole, 



ROME. 107 

the triumphant general, dressed in purple embroidered with 
gold, with a crown of laurel upon his head, and other deco- 
rations. 

36. Dress. The most distinguished parts of the Roman 
dress were the toga and the tu'nica. The toga, or gown, 
worn by Roman citizens only, was loose and flowing, and 
covered the whole body ; it had no sleeves, and was disposed 
in graceful folds, to give the wearer a majestic appearance. 
The toga viri'lis, or manly gown, was assumed by young men 
at the age of 17 years. — The tunica, or tunic, was a white 
woollen vest, which came down a little below the knees be- 
fore, and to the middle of the leg behind, and was fastened 
tight about the waist by a girdle. 

37. Meals. The principal meal of the Romans was called 
cozna or supper, which took place about three o'clock in the 
afternoon, and exceeded in luxury everything known in mod- 
ern times. The early Romans lived chiefly on bread and pot- 
herbs ; but when riches were introduced by their conquests, 
luxury seized all ranks, and everything was ransacked to 
gratify the appetite. In the early ages, the Romans sat at 
meals, but afterwards they reclined on sumptuous couches. 
Their ordinary drink at feasts was wine, which they mixed 
with water, and sometimes with spices. 

38. Forum. The Forum was the principal public place in 
the city. It was a large, oblong, open space, where the as- 
semblies of the people were held, where justice was adminis- 
tered, and public business transacted. It was entirely sur- 
rounded with arched porticos, within which were spacious 
halls, called basil'icai, where courts of justice might sit for the 
decision of private affairs. 

39. Campus Martius. The Campus Martius, or Field of 
Mars, was a large plain, without the city, along the Tiber, 
where the Roman youth practised all kinds of athletic exer- 
cises and sports, and learned the use of arms. It was adorned 
with the statues of famous men, and with triumphal arches, 
columns, porticos, and other magnificent structures. 



108 



ROMAN HISTORY. 



B.C. 

800 

8th 

700 

1th 
600 

6th 

500 



5 th 

400 

4Jh 
300 

3d 
200 

2d 
100 

Is* 



Chronological Table of Roman History. — No. 1. 
From the Foundation of Rome to the end of the Commonwealth. 



53 Romulus, founds Rome; institutes the senate; divides the 

people into tribes and curiae ; patricians and plebeians. 
15 Numa Pompilius, a pacific king ; regulates religious ceremonies. 



72 Tullus Hostilius. Combat between the Horatii and Curiatii. 
40 Ancus Martins, builds the port of Ostia; conquers the Latins. 
16 Tarquin the Elder, constructs the cloaca; founds the capitol. 



78 Servius Tullius, establishes the census, made every 5th year. 

34 Tarquin, the Proud, disgusts the people by his tyranny : rape of 
Lucretia by Sextus. The Tarquins expelled ; the regal 
government abolished (509), and the Commomvealth begins. 



98 Lartius first Dictator. Contests between the Patricians and 
Plebeians ; the latter retire to Mons Sacer. Tribunes created. 
85 Dissensions respecting Agrarian Law begin. Coriolanus. 
71 Law Volero ; the privileges of the Plebeians increased. 
56 Cincinnatus Dictator ; defeats the Voisci and JEqui. 
51 Decemvirs appointed ; Laws of the Twelve Tables. 
49 The Decemvirs banished. — 445. Military Tribunes created. 
45 Intermarriages of the Patricians and Plebeians. 
37 Two Censors appointed. — 406. The troops receive regular pay. 



91 Veii taken by Camillus, the Dictator. 

90 The Gauls, under Brennus, defeat the Romans, and burn Rome. 

83 Manlius Capitolinus thrown down the Tarpeian Rock. 

43 War with the Samnites begins ; lasts 53 years. 

38 The Campanians subdued. — 332. The Appian Way formed. 



80 War with the Tarentines and Pyrrhus. - 266. Lower Italy conq. 

64 First Punic War; lasts till 241. — 255. Regulus defeated. 

22 Cisalpine Gaul reduced to a Roman province. 

18 Second Punic War; lasts till 201. 

18 Hannibal defeats the Romans on the Ticinus and the Trebia ; 

(217) on the Thrasymenus ; and (216) at Cann^:. 
12 Romans (Marcellus) take Syracuse ; and (210) conquer Sicily. 

7 The Romans (Nero and Livy) defeat Asdrubal at Metaxirus. 

2 The Romans (Scipio Africanus) defeat Hannibal at Zama. 



97 The Romans defeat the Macedonians at Cynocephale. 
68 Battle of Pydna ; Macedonia reduced to a Roman province. 
49 Third Punic War; ends (146), Carthage being destroyed. 
46 Corinth taken, and all Greece reduced to a Roman province. 
33 Numantia taken, after a long siege. 
33 Tiberius Gracchus slain. — 121. Caius Gracchus slain. 
11 War against Jugurtka; — concluded (106) by Marius and Sylla. 
2 Marius defeats the Teutones at Aqua. Sextia. 



89 Mithridatic War ; — lasts till 66. 

88 Civil rear between Marius and Sylla. — 82. Sylla's proscription. 
73 Servile War ; Spartacus. — 65. Syria conquered by Pompey. 
63 Catiline's Conspiracy suppressed by Cicero. 
60 First Triumvirate ; formed by Pompey, Crassus, and Caesar. 
48 Civil tear ; Casar and Pompey ; battle of Pharsalia. 
45 Caesar perpetual Dictator ; — 44. Caesar murdered. 
43 Second Triumvirate ; Octavius, Antony, and Lepidus. 
42 Battle of Philippi ; Brutus and Cassius overthrown. 
31 Battle of Actium gained by Augustus, who puts an end to the 
Commonwealth, and becomes emperor. 



To ascertain the date of any event in this Table, add the figures connected with the 
event to the century below. Thus it appears that Rome was burnt by the Gauls B.C. 390. 



ROMAN HISTORY. 109 



Chronological Table of Roman History. — No. 2. 
From the end of the Commonicealth to the extinction of the Western 

Empire. 



B.C. 
A.D. 



1st 

100 

2d 
200 



3d 



300 



4th 



400 



5th 



31 Augustus, 1st Emperor : golden period of Roman Literature. 



14 Tiberius, 2, characterized by cruelty and oppression. 
36 Caligula, 3, noted for profligacy and folly ; is murdered. 
41 Claudius, 4, a weak sovereign ; invades Britain. 

54 Nero, 5, a profligate tyrant ; sets Rome on fire. Peter and Paul martyred. 
63 Galba, 6, slain and succeeded by [69] Otho, 7 ; by Vitellius, 8. 
70 Vespasian, 9, a popular emperor. Jerusalem taken by Titus in 70. 
79 Titus, 10. Herculaneum and Pompeii overwhelmed in 79. 
81 Domitian, 11, a cruel tyrant, the last of the Twelve Ccesars, Julius' Caesar be- 
ing the first. Britain conquered by Agricola. 
96 Nerva, 12, enfeebled by age ; adopts Trajan for his successor. 
93 Trajan, 13, a great sovereign. The empire in its greatest extent. 



17 Adrian, 14, journeys through the empire ; rebuilds Jerusalem in 137. 

33 Antoninus Pius, 15, eminent for his public and private virtues. 

61 Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, 16, the virtuous Stoic philosopher. 

80 Commodus, 17, profligate and cruel ; is assassinated. 

93 Pertinax, 18, proclaimed by the Pretorian guards ; murdered. 

93 Didius Julianus, 19, purchases the empire ; soon put to death. 

93 Septimius Severus, 20, defeats his competitors, Niger and Albinus. 



11 Caracalla and Geta, 21, two brothers; murdered. 

17 Macrinus, 22, murdered at the instigation of Heliogabalus. 

18 Heliogabalus, 23, a monster of cruelty and vice ; is murdered. 

22 Alexander Severus, 24, an excellent prince ; defeats the Persians. 

35 Maximin, 25, of gigantic stature. During his reign, Gordian I., 26, is pro- 
claimed by the army ; unites Gordian II, 27. 

38 Maximus and Balbinus, 28 ; both slain. 

33 Gordian III, 29, defeats the Persians under Sapor. 

44 Philip, 30, the Arabian, succeeded by Decius, 31. 

51 Gallus, 32, with Gallus Volusian. [54] Mmilian, 33. 

54 Valerian, 34, taken prisoner and put to death by Sapor, king of Persia. 

61 Gallienus, 35 ; succeeded by [63] Claudius, 36. 

70 Aurelian, 37, a great warrior, defeats Zenobia, the Goths, &c. 

75 Tacitus, 33. [76] Florian, 39. [77] Probus, 40. [82] Carus, 41. 

32 Numerian and Carinus, 42. 

84 Diocletian, 43. The empire divided into four parts, under two emperors and 
two Caisars. The last and greatest persecution of the Christians. 



6 Constantine, the Great, 44, 1st Christian emperor ; removes the seat of em- 
pire from Rome to Constantinople. 

36 Constantine II., Constantius, and Constans, 45, three emperors. 

61 Julian, 46, the Apostate, reestablishes the pagan worship, and attempts to 
rebuild the Temple of Jerusalem. 

63 Jovian, A7, restores the Christian religion. 



64 Valens I. , emperor of the East. 
79 Theodosius the Great. 



64 Valentinian 1, 48, emp. of the West. 
75 Gratian, 49. 

83 Valentinian II, 50 ; Goths 
92 Theodosius, 51, the Great, the last sole emperor of the West and East 
plete establishment of Christianity, and downfall of paganism. 



WESTERN EMPIRE. 
Rome the Capital. 
95 Honorius, 52. Alaric. 



24 Valentinian III. , 53. Attila. 

55 Maximus, 54. [55] Avitus, 55. 

57 Majorian, 56. [61] Severus, 57. 
[67] Athenius, 58. 

72 Olybrius, 59. [73] Glucerius, 60. 
[74] J. Nepos, 61. 

75 Augustulus Romulus, 62. Odoacer 
puts an end to the Western Em- 
pire, in 476. 



EASTERN EMPIRE. 
Constantinople the Capital. 
95 Arcadius. 



8 T heodosius II Theodosian Code. 
Invasion of the Huns, under 
Attila. 

50 Marcian. 

57 Leo, the Great, first emperor crown- 
ed by the Patriarch. 

74 Zeno, makes Theodoric, the Ostro- 
goth, his general. 

91 Anastasius. 



The figures on the left hand of the emperors denote the commencement 
of their reigns ; those on the right, the number of the emperor. Thus, 
Constantine the Great began to reign in 306, and was the 44th emperor. 

10 



110 



ROMAN HISTORY. 



Chronological Table of Roman Literature. 


b. c. 


Public Men. 


Poets. 


Historians. 


Philosophers, 
Orators, &c. 


Jews. 


500 






















5tk 


Coriolanus 
Cincinnatus 








Ezra 

Malachi 


400 






















4th 


Camillua 








Jadua 


Manlius 










300 






















3d 


Fabricius 


Livius And. 






Sadoc 


Marcellus 


Naevius 






Jesus Sirac 


200 
























Fabius Max. 


Plautus 






Mattathias 


2d 


Scipio Afric. 


Ennius 






Judas Mac. 




Cato, Censor 


Terence 






J. Hyrcanus 


100 
























Marius 












Sylla 












Sertoriua 












Catiline 




Sisenna 




Shammai 


1st 


Crassus 


Roscius, 


J. C&SAR 






Pompey 


Drama. 


Sallust 


Hortensius 


Hillel 




Lucullus 


Lucretius 


Hirtius Pan- 


CICERO 






Cato, Utica 


Catullus 


sa 








Caesar 


VIRGIL 


Cornelius 


Varro, 






Brutus 


Propertius 


Nepos 


Literature. 






Cassius 


Tibulius 




Vitruvius, 






Antony 


Horace 




Architecture. 









^^^ 




















Emperors. 








John Baptist 






Ovid 


LIVY 


Columella 


Philo 






Ph83drus 


Valerius Ma. 




Jonathan 






Persius 


Pomp. Mela, 




Onkelos 






Lucan 


Geog. 




Christians. 


1st 




Petronius 


Paterculus 


Seneca 


James 






Silius Itali- 


Quintus Cur- 


Pliny, Sen. 


Peter 






cus 


tius 




Paul 






Valerius 






Josephus, Jew 






Flaccua 


TACITUS 


Quinctilian, 


John 






Statius 




Criticism. 


Clemens Ro. 


100 
















Pliny, Jun. 




Ignatius 






Martial 


Suetonius 


Frontinus 


Papias 


2d 




Juvenal 


Floras 


M. Aurelius 


Justin Mar. 








Aulus Gellius 


Antoninus 


Polycarp 






Palladius 


Justin 




Irenaeus 


200 
































Tertullian 


3d 




Calpurnius 






Origen 
Cyprian 


300 

4^ 
















Vopiscus 




Arius 




Ausonius 


Lampridius 




Athanasius 








Eutropius 




Ambrose 


400 

5*A 














Prudentius 


V. Sequester 




Chrysostom 
Jerome 






Claudian 


Orosius 




Augustine 


500 

6th 




















Fulgentius 


600 
7iA 




Mar. Capella 


Cassiodorus 




Benedict 






Boethius 




Gregory 








Trebonian 




Isidore 



The most flourishing period of Roman Literature comprised the century immedi- 
ately preceding, and that immediately following, the Christian era. 



THE MIDDLE AGES. 



1. The Middle Ages comprise a period of about a thousand 
years, from the 5th to the 15th century ; or from the subver- 
sion of the Western Empire of the Romans to that of the 
Eastern Empire. During these centuries, Europe was sunk 
in ignorance, barbarism, and superstition ; hence this period 
is styled the Dark Ages. 

2. The migration of the Goths, Vandals, Huns, and other 
barbarous nations from the north of Europe, took place in the 
latter part of the 4th century, and the beginning of the 5th. 
These barbarians possessed themselves of the middle and 
south of Europe ; and in less than one hundred years after 
this event, almost all learning and civilization disappeared. 
Literature had been gradually declining since the reign of 
Augustus ; yet considerable remains of it existed in the Ro- 
man Empire till after the fall of the capital before the arms 
of the Goths. The darkest period was from the 6th century 
to the 12th. 

3. In these dark and miserable times, the human mind 
was neglected and debased : books were extremely scarce, 
and were procured only at an immense price, the cost of a 

: e volume being equal to that of a good house ; the com- 
mon people were wholly uneducated ; many persons of the* 
highest rank, and in the most important stations, were unable 
to read ; and contracts were made verbally for the want of 
persons capable of writing them. The learning which existed 
was confined chiefly to ecclesiastics and monks ; yet many 
priests did not understand the service which it was their duty 
daily to recite ; and many bishops had never seen a copy of 
the Bible during their lives. 

4. The state of morals, both among the clergy and laity, 
was n gly l° w 5 and Christianity had lost most of its 
original excellence, and was corrupted into a degrading su- 
perstition. The political state of Europe was also character- 
ized by anarchy, violence, and rapine. 



112 THE ARABS OR SARACENS. 

5. The absurd modes of trial by single combat or duel, and 
also by ordeal, that is, by walking blindfold over hot bars of 
iron, or being thrown into the water, were commonly used as 
methods of discovering guilt and innocence. 

6. The most considerable empire that existed in Europe dur- 
ing the Middle Ages was the New Empire of the West, which 
was established by Charlemagne, but which was not of long du- 
ration. It was during these ages that the famous and success- 
ful impostor Ma'homet appeared, and the Mahometan or Sara- 
cen Empire flourished. From the 8th to the 13th centuries, 
the Saracens surpassed all their contemporaries in the cultiva- 
tion of literature and science. 

7. Some of the most remarkable circumstances which char- 
acterize the history of Europe and the state of society, during 
this period, are, the Feudal System, the Crusades, and Chivalry. 



THE ARABS OR SARACENS. 

1. Before the time of Ma'homet, the Arabians were a rude 
nation, living generally in independent tribes, who traced their 
descent from Ishmael, and professed a mixed religion, com- 
pounded of Judaism and idolatry. They had had, as a nation, 
but little intercourse with the neighboring kingdoms. 

2. The Saracens, however, a warlike tribe of Arabs who in- 
habited the western part of Arabia, had, before this period, 
been induced, by the hope of plunder, to forsake their deserts, 
and had become alternately the support and terror of the tot- 
tering empires of Rome and Persia. They were in the habit 
of selling their services, as mercenaries, to those who would 
pay most liberally ; and their name was applied, by Christian 
authors of the Middle Ages, to the Arabian nations generally, 
who were the first disciples of Mahomet ; and who, within 50 
years after his death, conquered a considerable part of Asia 
and Africa, and some portions of Europe ; but the descendents 
of the Arabs, who subdued and possessed themselves of Spain, 
have been styled Moors. 

3. Arabia had afforded an asylum to the persecuted Chris- 
tians of different sects ; and, at the end of the 6th century, 
Christianity had become the prevailing religion in some parts 
of the country. It was, however, a most corrupt form of 
Christianity, inculcating the worship of saints and images, with 
many other absurd and superstitious ceremonies ; and, among 



THE ARABS OR SARACENS. 113 

both the priests and the people, a general depravity of manners 
prevailed. 

4. Such was the state of Arabia, when Ma'lwmet or Moham'- 
med, that most extraordinary and successful impostor, appear- 
ed. He was a native of Mecca, a man of no education, but of 
great natural talents. In 609, when about 40 years of age, he 
pretended to have received a divine commission to propagate 
a new religion. He withdrew to a place of retirement, where 
he affirmed that he held conferences with the angel Gabriel. 
These discourses were collected into a volume called the Ko- 
ran, or Alcoran, which is the Mahometan bible. Ma'homet 
performed no miracles, but appealed chiefly to the excellence 
of the doctrine contained in the Koran, and to the elegance of 
its style, as proofs of its inspiration. 

5. The two leading doctrines of his religion were these, 
namely, " There is hut one God, and Mahomet is his prophet." 
He taught that others, at various times, as Abraham, Moses, 
and Jesus Christ, had been divinely commissioned to teach 
mankind ; but that he himself was the last and greatest of the 
prophets. He adopted much of the morality of the Gospel, and 
retained many of the rites of Judaism, and some of the Ara- 
bian superstitions, particularly the pilgrimage to Mecca. But 
he owed his success, in a great measure, to his allowing his 
followers great latitude in licentious indulgences, and to his 
promising them, as their future reward, a paradise of sensual 
pleasures. 

6. He propagated his religion by the sword, stimulated the 
courage of his followers by inculcating the strictest predestina- 
rianism or fatalism, and roused their enthusiasm by the assur- 
ance of a martyr's crown to every one who should fall in bat- 
tle. It was inculcated as a fundamental doctrine, that " to 
fight for the faith was an act of obedience to God " ; hence 
the Mahometans or Saracens denominated their ferocious and 
bloody ravages holy wars, — They term their religion Islam or 
Islamism ; and call themselves Mussulmans or Moslems, that 
is, true believers or orthodox. 

7. Mahomet, in the beginning of his efforts, had but little 
success in making proselytes. His first converts were his 
wife Kadija, his slave Zeid, his cousin and son-in-law the fa- 
mous Ali, and his father-in-law Abu-beker, who was a man of 
influence. These, together with ten others, were all whom he 
had persuaded to acknowledge the truth of his mission, at the 
end of three years. 

8. A popular tumult being raised against him at Mecca, he 
was compelled, in order to save his life, to escape ; and he fled 
in disguise to Medina. His flight 9 or Hegira, is the Mahom- 

10* 



114 THE ARABS OR SARACENS. 

etan era, corresponding to the year A. D. 622. He was car- 
ried into Medina in triumph, by 500 of its richest citizens ; and 
there he assumed the sacerdotal and regal office. He placed 
himself at the head of an army of his converts, and began to 
propagate his religion by the sword : having defeated his ene- 
mies, he entered his native city, Mecca, in 629, as a triumphant 
conqueror. He fought in person nine battles, subdued all 
Arabia, extended his conquests to Syria, and after a career of 
victory, died at Medina, at the age of 63, ten years after his 
flight from Mecca to that city. 

9. Mahomet affected the most rigid austerity, and the most 
ostentatious piety ; and he is described " as a perfect model of 
Arabian virtue, brave and liberal, eloquent and vigorous, noble 
and simple in all his dealings, and of irreproachable morals." 
This is the fair side of his character; but on the other hand, 
he is reproached with the grossest sensuality, — having married, 
according to some authors, eleven, and according to others, sev- 
enteen wives, — with never having hesitated to make use of the 
worst passions of his followers for the advancement of his pur- 
poses, and with having had frequent recourse, in the progress of 
his conquests, to the most wanton cruelty and the basest perfidy. 

10. Mahomet was succeeded by Abu-beker, who is styled 
the first caliph, a subordinate title, which was assumed from 
respect and in reference to Mahomet, and which signifies, in 
Arabic, successor or vicar. He continued the career of con- 
quest, and, with the aid of his general Caled, defeated a great 
army of the Greek emperor Herac'lius, took Damascus, and 
died in the third year of his reign. At his death he bequeathed 
the sceptre to the brave Omar. " I have no occasion for the 
place," said Omar. " But the place has occasion for you," re- 
plied the dying caliph. 

11. Omar, with the assistance of his favorite general Obei- 
dah, in one campaign, deprived the Greek empire of Syria, 
Phoenicia, Mesopotamia, and Chaldea ; and in a second cam- 
paign, he reduced to the Mussulman dominion and religion 
the whole empire of Persia. His army, under Amrou, took 
Alexandria, and subdued Egypt. 

12. Amrou, being requested to spare the Alexandrian libra- 
ry, wrote for directions respecting it to Omar, who is said to 
have returned the following answer, characteristic of an igno- 
rant barbarian and fanatic : " If these writings agree with the 
Koran, they are useless, and need not be preserved ; if they 
disagree, they are pernicious, and ought to be destroyed." 
The sentence, as is related by numerous authors, was executed 
by using this vast collection of the writings of the ancients as 
fuel for heating the 4C00 baths of the city for six months. This 



THE ARABS OR SARACENS. 115 

was the largest library that the world had then seen, — stated 
at 700,000 volumes, — and its destruction is regarded as the 
greatest loss to literature that is recorded in history. 

13. Omar, during a reign of 10 years, reduced 36,000 cities 
and villages to his obedience, demolished 4,000 Christian 
churches or temples, and erected 1,400 mosques for Mahom- 
etan worship. He was finally assassinated, and succeeded by 
Othman, who added Bactria'na and a part of Tartary to the 
dominion of the caliphs. On his death, Ali, who had married 
Fat'ima, the daughter of Mahomet, was elected to the caliph- 
ate. He is reputed the bravest and most virtuous of the 
caliphs, and his reign was glorious, though of only five years' 
duration. 

14. In the space of less than half a century, the Saracens 
raised an empire more extensive than what then remained of 
the Roman ; and in 100 years from the flight of Mahomet from 
Mecca to Medina, the dominions of his successors extended 
from India to the Atlantic, comprehending the widely distant 
regions of Persia, Syria, Asia Minor, Arabia, Egypt, the North 
of Africa, and Spain. 

15. The reign of Ali forms a remarkable era in the Mus- 
sulman history, on account of a schism which then arose, and 
which caused the followers of Mahomet to be divided into two 
great parties, which still continue to exist, known by the names 
of Sunnites, or Sonnites, and Shiites, who detest and anathema- 
tize each other as heretics. The Shiites are zealous adherents 
of Ali, whom they regard as equal to Mahomet, but reject 
Abu-beker, Omar, and Othman, the first three caliphs, as usurp- 
ers. The Sunnites, or orthodox Mahometans, acknowledge the 
rightful authority of these caliphs, but admit no one to be equal 
to Mahomet ; and they receive the Sunnah, or body of tra- 
ditions concerning the prophet, as of canonical authority ; but 
this is rejected by the Shiites. The Turks are Sunnites, and 
the Persians are Shiites. 

16. Ali removed the seat of the Mussulman sovereigns from 
Mecca to Cufa, on the Euphrates ; and in 768, it was removed 
by Almansor to Bagdad ; hence they are styled caliphs of 
Bagdad. Next to the caliphate of Bagdad, the other caliph- 
ate most illustrious in Saracenic history was that of Cordova 
in Spain. Walid, who reigned at Cufa in the early part of 
the 8th century, was the first that founded a hospital, and 
built caravansaries or public inns, for the accommodation of 
travellers. 

17. The first race of caliphs were styled Ommi'ades, the 
first of whom was Moawiyah; of these, 19 reigned in succes- 
sion ; after which began the dynasty of the Abbas' sides, who 



116 THE ARABS OR SARACENS. 

were descended from Abbas, the uncle of Mahomet. Alman- 
sor, the second caliph of this race, built Bagdad, and made it 
the seat of the Saracen empire, and it became the largest and 
most splendid city in the world. He was a liberal patron of 
learning and science ; and it was he who first introduced the 
cultivation of them among the Saracens. 

18. The reign of Haroun al Raschid, the 25th caliph, who 
was contemporary wkh Charlemagne, was the most splendid of 
the whole dynasty ; and it is regarded as the Augustan age of 
Saracen or Arabic literature. This prince rendered himself 
illustrious by his valor, generosity, and benevolence ; by his 
equitable government, and his patronage of learned men. It 
is to these times that a great part of our proverbs and roman- 
ces must be referred ; and the Thousand and one Nights have 
rendered Haroun al Raschid more celebrated than his victo- 
rious march through Asia. Schools of learning were, at this 
period, established in the principal towns. The sciences 
chiefly cultivated were medicine, geometry, and astronomy : 
poetry and fiction also commanded attention. Some of the 
successors of Haroun al Raschid, particularly his son Al Ma- 
mun, followed his footsteps in patronizing learning. Litera- 
ture was also successfully cultivated by the Saracens of Spain 
and Africa 

19. From the time of the removal of the seat of govern- 
ment to Bagcud, the importance of Arabia began to decline. 
Many chiefs of the interior provinces rose to assert their in- 
dependence, and withdrew themselves from the civil jurisdic- 
tion of the caliph, regarding him only as the head of their 
religion. 

20. The Saracens might have established an immense em- 
pire, if they had acknowledged but one head ; but as their con- 
quests extended, their states soon became disunited. Spain, 
Egypt, Morocco, and India had, at an early period, their sepa- 
rate sovereigns, who continued to respect the caliph of Bagdad 
as the successor of the prophet, but acknowledged no temporal 
subjection to his government. 

21. The house of Abbas furnished 37 caliphs, who reigned 
in succession. Bagdad continued to be the seat of the Sara- 
cen empire 490 years, during which long period it sustained 
several obstinate sieges, and was the scene of many a bloody 
revolution. At length, in the 656th year of the Hegira, A. D. 
1258, Bagdad was taken by Hulaku, the grandson of the cele- 
brated Genghis Khan : the reigning caliph, Al Mostasem, was 
put to death ; the caliphate was abolished, and the Saracen 
empire terminated. 

22. The immediate successors of Mahomet found them- 



THE FEUDAL SYSTEM. 117 

selves under the necessity of affecting that enthusiastic de- 
votion, and rigid austerity, by which he had established his 
character as a prophet, and his power as a sovereign. All 
the time they could spare from the duties of royalty was spent 
in prayer or preaching before the sepulchre of the impostor. 
Their manners were modest and unassuming ; they affected 
great humility, practised various mortifications, and conde- 
scended to perform the meanest offices. Satisfied with the 
power of royalty, they affected to disdain its pomp. But when 
their power was confirmed beyond the fear of revolution, they 
forgot the real or affected virtues which their predecessors had 
found it necessary to practise, and became distinguished for 
their oppression, their love of show and magnificence, their 
luxury and effeminacy. 

23. As the caliphs succeeded to both the regal and sacer- 
dotal offices which Mahomet had assumed, they were the most 
absolute monarchs in the world. No privileged order was 
recognized in the Saracen empire, to impose a salutary re- 
straint on the will of the despots. The Koran was, indeed, 
prescribed as the rule of their actions, and it inculcated the 
duties of humanity and justice ; but they were themselves the 
interpreters and judges of that code ; nor did any Mussulman 
dare dispute their infallibility. Their office, uniting spiritual 
with temporal power, bore a striking resemblance to that of 
the popes ; nor did the resemblance fail, with regard to pomp, 
haughtiness, and oppression. 



THE FEUDAL SYSTEM. 

1. The Feudal System had its origin among the barbarous 
nations, the Goths, Vandals, Huns, Lombards, &c, that over- 
ran the countries of Europe, on the decline of the Roman em- 
pire ; but it is supposed to have received its earliest improve- 
ment among the Lombards. It was adopted by Charlemagne, 
and eventually by most of the princes of Europe ; and it is 
generally believed to have been first introduced into England 
by William the Conqueror. 

2. When the northern barbarians had made a conquest of 
the provinces of the Roman empire, the conquered lands were 
distributed by lot ; hence they were called allotted or allodial ; 
and they were held in entire sovereignty by the different chief- 
tains, without any other obligation existing between them than 



118 THE FEUDAL SYSTEM. 

that of uniting, in case of war, for the common defence. The 
king or captain-general, who led on his respective tribes to 
conquest, naturally received by far the largest portion of ter- 
ritory for his own share ; and his principal followers, to whom 
he granted lands, bound themselves merely to render him mili- 
tary services. 

3. The example of the king was imitated by his courtiers, 
who distributed, under similar conditions, portions of their es- 
tates to their dependants. Thus a feudal kingdom became 
a military establishment, and had the appearance of a victo- 
rious army encamped under its officers in different parts of 
a country ; every captain or baron considering himself in- 
dependent of his sovereign, except during a period of na- 
tional war. 

4. Possessed of wide tracts of country, and residing at a 
distance from the capital, these barons or lords erected strong 
and gloomy castles or fortresses in places of difficult access ; 
and not only oppressed the people, and slighted the civil mag- 
istracy of the state, but were often in a condition to set the 
authority of the crown itself at defiance. 

5. The fundamental principle of this system was, that all 
the lands were originally granted out by the sovereign, and 
were held of the crown. The grantor was called lord, and 
those to whom he made grants were styled his feudatories or 
vassals. As military service was the only burden to which 
the feudatories were subjected, this service was esteemed 
honorable, and the names of freeman and soldier were sy- 
nonymous. 

6. The great mass of the people, who cultivated the lands, 
were styled serfs or villains, and were in a state of miserable 
servitude. They were not permitted to bear arms, nor suffered 
to leave the estates of their lords. 

7. The feudal government, though well calculated for de- 
fence, was very defective in its provisions for the interior order 
of society. A kingdom resembled a cluster of confederated 
states under a common head ; and though the barons or nobles 
owed a species of allegiance to the king, yet, when obedience 
was refused, it could be enforced only by war. 

8. The bond of union being feeble, and the sources of dis- 
cord innumerable, a kingdom often exhibited a scene of an- 
archy, turbulence, and war ; and such was, in fact, the state 
of Europe, with respect to interior government, from the 7th 
to the 11th century. 

9. Some of the principal causes of the gradual overthrow 
of the Feudal System were, the crusades, the formation of 
cities into communities with special privileges, the change of 



THE CRUSADES. 119 

the mode of war which followed the invention of gunpowder, 
the extension of commerce, the increase and distribution of 
wealth, and the diffusion of knowledge. Some relics of it, 
however, still exist in some parts of Europe, particularly in 
Russia and Poland, and in some portions of Germany. 



THE CRUSADES. 

1. The Crusades, or Holy Wars, the first of which was 
commenced in 1096, and the last in 1270, were military expe- 
ditions, undertaken by the Christians of Europe, for the de- 
liverance of Palestine, and particularly the sepulchre of our 
Savior, from the dominion of the Mahometans. These enter- 
prises involved all the nations of Western Europe ; yet, in most 
of them, the French took the lead. In 637, Jerusalem was 
conquered by the Saracens, who were induced, by self-interest, 
to permit Christian pilgrims to visit the city. But when the 
Twks, a wild and ferocious tribe of Tartars, got possession of 
Jerusalem, in 1065, the pilgrims were no longer safe, but were 
exposed to insult and robbery. The dangers of pilgrimage, 
painted in the most frightful colors by those who returned 
from the holy city, threatened the discontinuance of what 
was regarded, in that age of ignorance and superstition, a 
sacred duty. 

2. Peter the Hermit, a native of Amiens, in France, having 
returned from a painful pilgrimage, conceived the design of 
arming the sovereigns and people of Europe, for the purpose 
of rescuing the holy sepulchre out of the hands of the infidels. 

.With this view, he travelled from kingdom to kingdom, de- 
scribing the sufferings of the pilgrims with the most inflamma- 
tory pathos, and calling aloud for vengeance. He exhibited, 
in his own person, a complete specimen of monkish austerity 
and frantic enthusiasm. His body, which was covered with a 
coarse garment, seemed wasted with fasting ; his head was 
bare ; his feet naked ; he bore aloft in his hand a large and 
weighty crucifix ; and his prayers were frequent, long, and 
loud. He accosted every person whom he met, and entered, 
without hesitation, the palaces of the great and the cottages 
of the poor. 

3. Urban II, the reigning pontiff, pitched upon this en- 
thusiast as a fit person to commence the execution of a grand 
design, which had before been entertained by the popes, par- 
ticularly Gregory VII, (Hildebrand,) of arming all Christen- 



120 THE CRUSADES. 

dom against the Mahometans. The project was opened in two 
general councils, which were held at Placentia and Clermont, 
in 1095, and attended by many thousands. The pope himself 
harangued the multitude, and proposed that the cross, which 
was made of red stuff attached to the right shoulder, should be 
the badge of the combatants ; and from this badge the expedi- 
tions were termed crusades. Plenary indulgence and full ab- 
solution were proclaimed to all who should devote themselves 
to the service. 

4. An immense multitude of ambitious and disorderly no- 
bles, with their dependants, eager for enterprise and rapine, 
and assured of eternal salvation, immediately took the cross. 
Robbers, incendiaries, murderers, and thousands of inferior 
offenders, readily embraced the opportunity of making expia- 
tion for their sins ; and their zeal was increased by the hope 
of plunder and of sensual gratification. Peter the Hermit 
assumed the office of general, for which he was totally unqual- 
ified, and, placing himself at the head of 80,000 recruits, com- 
menced his march towards the East in the spring of 1096. 
This army was followed by a promiscuous assemblage of 
200,000 persons, more like the collected banditti of Europe 
than a regularly constituted soldiery. The Jews of Germany 
were their first victims ; but their outrages in Hungary and 
Bulgaria drew upon them a severe retaliation from the in- 
habitants, so that not more than a third part of this undisci- 
plined multitude arrived with Peter at Constantinople. These 
were met by sultan Sol'yman, on the plain of Nice, and almost 
totally destroyed, without ever having seen Jerusalem. 

5. But a more valuable part of the expedition was still in 
reserve, and soon after arrived at Constantinople. These were 
men properly trained and appointed, led by experienced and 
able generals. The supreme command was conferred on 
Godfrey of Bouillon, who was supported by Baldwin his 
brother, Robert, duke of Normandy (son of William the Con- 
queror of England), Hugh, count of Vermandois, Raymond, 
count of Thoulouse, and various other distinguished princes 
of Europe. When reviewed in the neighborhood of Nice, 
they amounted to 100,000 horse, and 600,000 foot, including a 
train of women and followers. 

6. Having taken Nice, and defeated Solyman, they pro- 
ceeded eastward, conquered Edessa, took the city of Antioch, 
vanquished an army of 600,000 Saracens, and, being reduced 
to little more than a twentieth part of their original number, 
advanced to Jerusalem, which, after a siege of 40 days, was 
taken by storm, in 1099 ; and the whole of its Mahometan and 
Jewish inhabitants were barbarously massacred. The heroic 



THE CRUSADES. 121 

Godfrey was proclaimed king of Jerusalem by the troops, and 
he soon after defeated the sultan, with an immense army, at 
Ascalon ; but, after having reigned one year, he was compelled 
to give up his kingdom to the pope's legate. 

7. The conquerors divided Syria and Palestine into four 
states ; and, seeing their object accomplished, they began to 
return to Europe. The Turks gradually recovered their 
strength ; and the crusaders who remained in Asia, finding 
themselves surrounded by foes, were under the necessity of 
soliciting aid from Christendom. An army of adventurers, 
collected by Hugh, the brother of Philip I. of France, met 
with a fate similar to that of the army under Peter the Hermit, 
being cut off in hostilities, first with the Greeks, and afterwards 
with Solyman. 

8. The second crusade was preached, in 1147, by the fa- 
mous St. Bernard, the founder of the monastic order of the 
Bernardines ; and Louis VII. of France, and Conrad III. of 
Germany, with 300,000 of their subjects, were persuaded to 
assume the cross. Conrad took the lead, but his army was al- 
most entirely extirpated near Ico'nium ; the French, under 
Louis, were totally defeated near Laodice'a ; and the two mon- 
archs, after witnessing the destruction of the finest armies 
which their countries had produced, returned with shame to 
their dominions. 

9. The illustrious Sal'adin, who, about the year 1174, raised 
himself, from the condition of an attendant of the caliphs, to 
the sovereignty of Egypt, Arabia, Syria, and Persia, formed 
the design of recovering Palestine from the Christians. Hav- 
ing defeated their army in the battle of Tiberias, he besieged 
and took Jerusalem, in 1187, and made its sovereign, Guy of 
Lusignan, prisoner. 

10. The reigning sovereigns of the principal states of Eu- 
rope, Philip Augustus of France, Richard I. of England, and 
Frederic Barbarossa of Germany, were men of eminent tal- 
ents ; and by the influence of pope Clement III., they were in- 
duced to unite in a third crusade, in 1188. The Emperor 
Frederic was drowned in Cilicia, in the small river Cydnus, 
and his army mostly destroyed. The English and French 
were more fortunate : they took Ptolema'is ; but Richard and 
Philip quarrelled from jealousy of each other's glory, and the 
French monarch returned in disgust to his country. 

11. Richard ably sustained the contest with the Sultan Sal- 
ad in, whom he defeated near As 1 colon : but his army was re- 
duced by famine, fatigue, and intestine quarrels. Returning 
through Germany, unaccompanied by his troops, he was ar- 
rested, and kept in prison, till an immense ransom was pro- 

11 



122 THE CRUSADES. 

cured from his subjects. Before his departure from Syria, he 
had made a peace with Saladin, who soon after died. 

12. Notwithstanding the misery which had been the uniform 
result of the crusades, such was the madness of the age, that 
fresh adventurers were ever ready to renew them. In 1202, 
during the pontificate of the ambitious pope Innocent III., 
Baldwin, count of Flanders, collected an army to act against 
the Mahometans in a fourth crusade ; but he began, as others 
had done, with the Eastern Christians. Arriving at Constanti- 
nople at a time when there was a dispute respecting the suc- 
cession, his interference tempted one claimant to assassinate 
his rival, and Baldwin, after despatching the other by a public 
execution, and indulging his followers with the plunder of the 
city, took possession of the imperial throne of the Eastern 
Empire. Satisfied with this splendid acquisition, he attempted 
nothing against the Saracens. 

13. John de Brienne, a French nobleman, being appointed 
king of Jerusalem, made, in 1217, a descent upon Egypt, at 
the head of 100,000 men, with the design of destroying the 
power of its sultan at the seat of government. After a long 
siege, he took Damietta ; but, his army being subsequently sur- 
rounded by an inundation of the Nile, he was forced to give 
up his conquests and surrender his person as a hostage. 

14. The crusading fanaticism in Europe had, at length, be- 
gun to languish ; but it was again revived by St. Louis IX. of 
France, a monarch alike distinguished for being deeply imbued 
with the superstition of the age, and for possessing every ami- 
able and heroic virtue. After four years' preparation, he set 
out for the Holy Land, in 1248, with his queen, his three 
brothers, and all the knights of France. 

15. He began his enterprise by invading Egypt, and, after 
losing one half of his numerous army by sickness, he was ut- 
terly defeated and taken prisoner by the Saracens. Having 
ransomed himself and his followers, he proceeded to Palestine, 
where he remained for a considerable time ; and then, returning 
to France, he reigned wisely and prosperously for 13 years. 
But the same frenzy assailing him again, he embarked, in 
1270, on another crusade against the Moors in Africa, and 
laid siege to Tunis, near which he and the greater part of his 
army were destroyed by a pestilence. This was the last of 
these mad enterprises. 

16. Effects of the Crusades. The crusades owed their or- 
igin to the fanaticism and superstition of an ignorant and bar- 
barous age, superadded to ambition, love of military achieve- 
ment, and a desire of plunder. No other military enterprise 
ever commanded the attention of Europe so generally or so 



THE CRUSADES. 123 

long ; and no other affords a more memorable monument of 
human folly. They assumed the sacred character of religion, 
and were styled Holy Wars. Their tracks marked the three 
quarters of the world which were then known with blood ; 
and for nearly two centuries they afflicted almost every family 
of Europe with the most painful privations. It is computed, 
that, during their continuance, more than two millions of Euro- 
peans were buried in the East. Those who survived were 
soon blended with the Mahometan population of Syria, and, in 
a few years, not a vestige of the Christian conquest remained. 

17. These barbarous expeditions, though productive of so 
much misery, had, nevertheless, a powerful influence in pro- 
ducing a great and beneficial change in the aspect of society. 
Their effects were observable, in a greater or less degree, on 
the political condition, the manners and customs, the commerce, 
the literature, and the religion of Christendom. 

18. At the commencement of the crusades, the Feudal Sys- 
tem prevailed throughout Europe. The barons who engaged 
in them were obliged to sell their lands, in order to procure 
the means of conveying their troops to a foreign country. In 
this way the aristocracy was weakened, wealth more widely 
distributed, and the lower classes began to acquire property, 
influence, and a spirit of independence. Kings, likewise, 
raised money by selling to towns immunities and privileges, 
such as the right of electing their own magistrates, and being 
governed by their own municipal laws. 

19. In the ages immediately preceding the crusades, the 
manners and mode of life which prevailed in Europe were 
gross and barbarous ; and so, indeed, they continued for a long 
time after their termination ; yet a gradual improvement was 
soon visible. Travelling in foreign countries has a tendency 
to enlarge the views, and polish the manners. In the East, 
particularly in Constantinople, the crusaders became acquaint- 
ed with modes of life superior to what they had been accus- 
tomed to in their own countries, and of which, on their return, 
they were ready to recommend the adoption. The crusades 
gave rise to various orders of knighthood, especially those of 
St. John of Jerusalem, and the Templars. They imbued chiv- 
alry with religion, and brought it to maturity. 

20. These enterprises had a most beneficial influence on 
commerce and the arts. Commerce had been carried on upon 
only a very limited scale ; and European nations had never 
had their attention sufficiently drawn to the numerous advan- 
tages of water-transport, till the destructive disasters of the 
first crusaders, in attempting a march by land, forced upon the 
minds of their followers the expediency of conveying their 



124 CHIVALRY. 

troops by water. By the consequent frequency of voyages to 
Palestine, the arts of navigation and ship-building were rapidly 
improved ; and from this period may be dated the commercial 
prosperity of Pisa, Genoa, and Venice. 

21. The crusades, although immediately injurious both to 
literature and religion, were, nevertheless, ultimately bene- 
ficial. They commenced at a time of the profoundest igno- 
rance and the grossest superstition ; — nearly all that remained 
of ancient art and science being, at that period, confined to 
Constantinople and the more enlightened of the Saracens ; — 
during their continuance, military fame was the chief object of 
ambition to all who aspired to distinction ; and that blind and 
fanatical devotion to the will of the priesthood, without which 
the people could never have been seduced into so wild an en- 
terprise, continued undiminished. But after two centuries of 
disaster, Europe began to suspect the folly of these expedi- 
tions, and to doubt the infallibility of their promoters ; and the 
human mind was gradually prepared for an emancipation from 
bigotry and servility. 

22. It may be observed, that if, by the superintendence of 
Providence, these benefits to society grew out of the crusades, 
they were diametrically opposite to what their projectors in- 
tended ; that these were results which they had neither the 
wisdom to foresee, nor the virtue to design. 



CHIVALRY. 



1. Chivalry was an institution in which valor, gallantry, and 
religion were strangely blended. It constitutes one of the 
most remarkable features in the history of European nations 
in the Middle Ages ; and, during several centuries, it produced 
a wonderful influence upon their opinions, habits, and man- 
ners, the effects of which may still be traced. Its distinguish- 
ing features were a romantic spirit of adventure ; a love of 
arms, and of the rewards of valor ; an eagerness to succor the 
distressed, and to redress wrongs ; high sentiments of honor 
and religion ; and a devoted and respectful attachment to the 
female sex. 

2. The early history of chivalry is involved in obscurity ; 
and different theories have been formed with regard to the 
period, the nation, and the circumstances, to which it owed its 
origin. But the best supported account appears to be that 
which fixes its origin, as a regular institution, in the 11th cen- 



CHIVALRY. 125 

tury. Before this period, however, the great principles of it 
were to be found in the manners and customs of the Gothic 
nations, among whom the profession of arms was the only em- 
ployment which was esteemed honorable, and who were dis- 
tinguished for their delicate and respectful gallantry to the 
female sex. It was embodied into form and regularity by the 
Feudal System ; and was afterwards brought to maturity and 
splendor by the Crusades, and, by the change wrought upon it 
by these expeditions, was rendered as much a religious as a 
military institution. Some improvements in it are supposed 
also to have been derived from the Saracens. 

3. Chivalry pervaded almost all parts of Europe ; yet Spain 
and France appear to have been the countries in which it was 
first regularly formed into a system, and where it flourished in 
its greatest purity and splendor. In Germany also, at an early 
period, it arrived at maturity ; but in England it was of later 
birth, and slower growth. 

4. The sons of noblemen, who were destined for chivalry, 
entered, at the age of seven years, on a course of education, 
which was to prepare them for the performance of its duties 
and the enjoyment of its honors. The place of their educa- 
tion was the castle of their father, or of some neighboring 
noble. From the age of 7 to 14, the appellation given to these 
boys was page or varlet ; in old English ballads, child ; and at 
14 they were raised to the rank, and received the title, of 
esquire, and were then authorized to bear arms. 

5. They were kept in constant and active employment, and 
waited on the master and mistress of the castle at home and 
abroad, and became accustomed to obedience and courteous 
demeanor. They were surrounded by noble ladies and valiant 
knights ; and the first impressions made on their minds were 
those of love, gallantry, honor, and bravery. They were 
taught to reverence chivalry as containing everything that was 
alluring and honorable ; and that the only means of attaining 
the highest honors were, devotion to the female sex, and skill 
and courage in warfare. 

6. By the ladies of the castle they were taught, at the same 
time, the rudiments of religion and love. " The love of God 
and the ladies," says Hallam, " was enjoined as a single duty. 
He who was faithful and true to his mistress was held sure of 
salvation in the theology of the castles." In order that they 
might have opportunity to practise, in some degree, the in- 
structions which they received, it was customary for each 
youth to select some young, accomplished, and virtuous lady, 
at whose feet he displayed all his gallantry, and who under- 
took to polish his manners. 

11 * 



126 CHIVALRY. 

7. The esquires were employed in various subordinate 
offices in the castles, and as attendants on the knights, till they 
arrived at 21, which was the proper age for admitting them to 
the full honors of knighthood. The candidate was required to 
prepare himself by ablutions, by rigid fasting, by passing the 
night in prayer, and by making a solemn confession of his 
sins ; and, as a type of the purity of manners which would be 
required of him, he was clothed in white. 

8. Having performed the preliminary rites, he then entered 
a church, and after an examination, if he were judged worthy 
of admission to the order of knighthood, he received the sac- 
rament, and took an oath, consisting of 26 articles, in which, 
among other things, he swore that he would be a good, brave, 
loyal, just, generous, and gentle knight, a champion of the 
church and the clergy, a protector of ladies, and a redresser 
of the wrongs of widows and orphans. 

9. While upon his knees, he received from the hands of the 
knights and the ladies the insignia of chivalry, his spurs, 
cuirass, coat of mail, and the other parts of his armor, and, 
in the last place, his sword. The most distinguished chevalier 
then dubbed him, or bestowed on him the accolade, by giving 
him a slight blow on the shoulder or cheek with his sword, 
which has been interpreted as an emblem of the last affront 
which it was lawful for him to endure. 

10. The most important part of the equipments of a knight 
was his horse ; his distinguishing weapon was the lance ; his 
other offensive arms consisted of a sword, dagger, battle-axe, 
and maces. His dress consisted of a long, flowing robe, which 
reached down to his heels. 

11. u The virtues and endowments that were necessary to 
form an accomplished knight," says Dr. Henry, " in the 
flourishing times of chivalry, were such as these ; — beauty, 
strength, and agility of body ; great dexterity in dancing, 
wrestling, hunting, hawking, riding, tilting, and every other 
manly exercise ; the virtues of piety, chastity, modesty, cour- 
tesy, loyalty, liberality, sobriety ; and above all, an inviolable 
attachment to truth, and an invincible courage." 

12. Such was the estimation in which knighthood was held, 
that, for a long time, no sovereign could be crowned till he 
had been knighted. Whoever had been dubbed became, as it 
were, a citizen of universal chivalry, and possessed various 
privileges and dignities, which were not limited to the territory 
of his sovereign, but extended throughout a great part of 
Europe. He had a right to roam through the world in quest 
of adventures, which, whether just or not in their purpose, 
were always esteemed honorable in proportion as they were 
perilous. 



CHIVALRY. 127 

13. He was authorized to propose a trial of skill with the 
lance to all those of his order whom he met, and to combat 
them with the utmost fury, if they did not acknowledge the la- 
dy to whom he had devoted himself, and whom they had nev- 
er seen, the most beautiful in the world. When he challenged 
them to single combat, it was in the name of his mistress ; and 
he established her unparalleled beauty by vanquishing his an- 
tagonist, and compelling him to acknowledge her superior 
charms. The portrait, the device, the livery, or even the most 
trifling gift of his mistress, he cherished with the utmost fond- 
ness. The crest of his helmet was ornamented with the favors 
which she had bestowed upon him. When the sovereign led 
his army to the attack, his never-failing injunction was, " Let 
every one think of his mistress." 

14. The influence of chivalry was not limited to either sex. 
The manners of the ladies of rank were necessarily polite and 
courteous ; for such they taught those of the chevaliers to be ; 
and it was their highest ambition to deserve and obtain the love 
of a valiant knight. As the laws of the institution made it the 
duty of a knight to protect the chastity and honor of the ladies, 
and forbade his speaking ill of them, or tamely hearing them 
spoken ill of by others, it was incumbent on him to warn them 
against the commission of every thing that might lower them 
in his opinion. 

15. Strictly decorous and respectful in his behavior towards 
them, he expected they would never forfeit their claim to such 
behavior. If, however, they transgressed the laws of modesty 
or prudence, he did not fail to stigmatize their failings in a 
way that would be keenly felt. If he passed the castle of one 
of this character, he marked, in such a manner as could not be 
mistaken, the dwelling of a lady unworthy to receive a true 
chevalier. 

16. As the knights were ambitious to gain the esteem of the 
fair sex by their heroic exploits and the protection which they 
afforded them, so the ladies were ambitious to merit such pro- 
tection by their virtue. In accordance with this is the language 
of Spenser : — 

It hath been through all ages ever seen, 

That, with the praise of arms and chivalry, 
The prize of beauty still hath joined been ; 

And that for reason's special privity : 
For either doth on other much rely ; 

For he, me-seems, most fit the fair to serve, 
That can her best defend from villany ; 

And she most fit his service doth deserve, 
That fairest is, and from her faith will never swerve. 

17. Chivalry especially enjoined the virtues of hospitality, 



128 CHIVALRY. 

humanity, and courtesy. Every true and loyal knight was ex- 
pected to have the door of his castle constantly open. As soon 
as one chevalier entered the castle of another, he considered 
himself at home, and was treated as if he were so ; every thing 
that could contribute to his comfort and his luxury was at his 
command. If he arrived wounded, every possible care was 
taken of him by the ladies, both young and old, who were 
proud of having in their possession remedies proper for such 
occasions. To a vanquished foe the most scrupulous and del- 
icate attention was paid : he was treated rather as a conqueror 
than as one who had been conquered. 

18. The favorite amusement and exercise of the knights 
consisted in justs and tournaments, the most splendid of which 
were celebrated at coronations, royal marriages, and distin- 
guished victories. " Every scenic performance of modern 
times," says Hallam, " must be tame in comparison of these 
animating scenes. At a tournament, the space inclosed within 
the lists was surrounded by sovereign princes and their noblest 
barons, by knights of established renown, and all that rank and 
beauty had most distinguished among the fair. Covered with 
steel, and known only by their emblazoned shields, or by the 
favors of their mistresses, a still prouder bearing, the combat- 
ants rushed forward to a strife without enmity, but not without 
danger. 

19. " Victory at a tournament was little less glorious, and 
perhaps, at the moment, more exquisitely felt, than in the field ; 
since no battle could assemble such witnesses of valor. ' Hon- 
or to the sons of the brave ! ' resounded, amidst the din of mar- 
tial music, from the lips of the minstrels, as the conqueror ad- 
vanced to receive the prize from his queen or his mistress ; 
while the surrounding multitude acknowledged, in his prowess 
of that day, an augury of triumphs that might, in more serious 
contests, be blended with those of his country." 

20. Absurd and ridiculous as the institution of chivalry ap- 
pears, yet it had a powerful influence in producing a favorable 
change in the manners of society in a barbarous age ; and was 
wonderfully adapted to the taste and genius of martial nobles. 
It infused humanity into war, at a time when the disposition of 
the age made it almost the constant business of life, and the 
ruling passion of persons of every rank : it introduced cour- 
tesy of manners, when men were rude and uncultivated : it 
exacted and produced a scrupulous adherence to truth, at a 
time when its obligations were feebly felt, and the temptations 
to falsehood were numerous ; it imparted an additional impulse 
and motive to a respectful and delicate attention to the female 
sex, when such attention was particularly necessary to them. 



CHIVALRY. 129 

21. As chivalry rose to splendor, and was embodied into 
form by the feudal system, so it fell along with it. The in- 
vention of gunpowder, and the consequent change in the mode 
of war ; the invention of the art of printing, and the diffusion 
of knowledge ; the extension of commerce, and the increase 
and distribution of wealth, gradually produced the destruction 
of the feudal system, and put a period to the existence of chiv- 
alry. It arose principally from the peculiar state of society, 
the evils of which it was calculated, in some degree, to remove 
or alleviate : it fell when that state of society and those evils 
had given way to the general diffusion of wealth and of 
knowledge. 

22. " The wild exploits of those romantic knights," says 
Dr. Robertson, " who sallied forth in quest of adventures, are 
well known, and have been treated with proper ridicule. The 
political and permanent effects of the spirit of chivalry have 
been less observed. Perhaps the humanity which accompa- 
nies all the operations of war, the refinements of gallantly, 
and the point of honor, the three chief circumstances which 
distinguish modern from ancient manners, may be ascribed, in 
a great measure, to this whimsical institution, seemingly of lit- 
tle benefit to mankind. The sentiments which chivalry in- 
spired had a wonderful influence on the manners and conduct 
during the 12th, 13th, 14th, and 15th centuries. They were 
so deeply rooted, that they continued to operate after the vigor 
and reputation of the institution itself began to decline." 

23. But the actual morals of chivalry were by no means 
pure : its principles, like those of other institutions, were 
much superior to the practice of its professors ; and it fell far 
short of establishing and preserving that purity in the inter- 
course of the sexes which it inculcated. The poetry of the 
Troubadours, and the tales and romances which describe the 
manners of chivalry, all afford evidence of dissolute morals. 

24. The knights professed to redress wrongs, to relieve the 
oppressed, and to protect the defenceless ; but in performing 
these very acts, they were not unfrequently guilty of the gross- 
est injustice and violence. Chivalry nourished a pernicious 
thirst for military renown, and cherished a love of war, found- 
ed more on feelings of personal resentment than on those of 
public spirit. It indeed taught mankind to carry the civilities 
of peace into the operations of war, and to mingle politeness 
with the use of the sword ; but it also gave birth to a punctil- 
ious refinement, and sowed the seeds of that fantastic honor, 
the bitterness of whose fruits is still felt in the modern practice 
of duelling. 

25. The origin of the duel is traced to the Gothic nations. 



130 CHIVALRY. 

Under the feudal system, and during the age of chivalry, the 
duel was warmly patronized. It so far prevailed among the 
Germans, Danes, and Franks, that none were exempted from 
it but women, sick people, cripples, and such as were under 
21 years of age, or above 60. Even ecclesiastics, priests, 
and monks, were obliged to find a champion to fight in their 
stead. 

26. Laws and regulations were defined for it, in most of the 
kingdoms of Europe ; forms of prayer were likewise pre- 
scribed ; and the combatants prepared themselves by taking 
the sacrament. It was then resorted to as a method of discov- 
ering truth and preventing perjury, with the belief of the in- 
terference of Providence for the punishment of the guilty, and 
the protection of the innocent. It is now practised as a mode 
of private revenge ; and its use is no longer supported by any 
plea derived from reason, religion, or superstition. 



MODERN HISTORY. 



1. Different periods, as has already been mentioned, have 
been adopted by different historians for the commencement of 
Modern History, — as the Christian era, the downfall of the 
Western Empire of the Romans, A. D. 476, the establishment 
of the New Empire of the West under Charlemagne, A. D. 
800, and (when considered as distinct from the history of the 
Middle Ages) the downfall of the Eastern Empire, in 1453. 

2. But in treating of the history of the several European 
states, the most convenient method is to begin with the com- 
mencement of each respectively, without being confined to 
any one common period. The French monarchy dates from 
the latter part of the 5th century ; but no other one of the 
present sovereignties of Europe traces its origin, by any au- 
thentic data, further back than the commencement of the 9th 
century. 

3. The period that succeeded the downfall of the Eastern 
Empire is one of the most important and interesting in the 
history of man. On casting an eye back to this period, we 
see a flood of light suddenly bursting upon the world ; man- 
kind waking, as from profound sleep, to a life of activity and 
bold adventure ; ignorance, barbarism, superstition, and feudal 
slavery, retreating before advancing civilization, knowledge, 
religion, and freedom. 

4. Some of the principal causes which produced the great 
and beneficial changes in the state of society which then took 
place, were the invention of the mariner's compass, of gun- 
powder, and of the art of printing ; the discovery of America, 
and of a maritime passage to India round the Cape of Good 
Hope ; the dispersion of the literary men of Constantinople to 
the western parts of Europe, and the Reformation in religion. 

5. In the history of European commerce, the association of 
the Hanse Towns, or Hanseatic League, holds a conspicuous 
place. This was a celebrated confederacy of commercial 
cities on the coasts of the Baltic and in the adjoining countries. 



EM MODERN HISTORY, 

The League was formed before the middle of the L8th cen- 
tury, end among ih< tOWni which were curly iiNNoeiutod wen' 

Hamburg, Lubeo, Bremen, Cologne, end Dantzio. It was 
loo ii widely extended) and it comprehended, el one period, 85 
towm | and 11 had four principal foreign depBta or factories, — 
ni London, Bruges, Novgorod, and Bergeni Regular astern 
blies, composed of deputies from all the cities, Vere held, once 
in three years, at Lubeo, where tne archives were kept 

6. in the Mill and 15th centuries the League was in its most 
flourishing oondition ; ii became of high political importance, 
and made war and peaoe as a sovereign state. But when the 
princes of the several countries in which these towns were 
situated began to afford an efficient protection t<> their Gommer« 
oial operations, and when the discovery of America, and of 
the way t<> India by the Cape of (iood I lope, <.»nve an ontirely 
new form and direction t<» oommerce, the nanseatic League 
gradually deolinedj and the lasl general assembly of the depu- 
Uei (Vow the several towns was held at Lubeo in 1680, when 
the l league \\ as dissolved. 

i. From the time of the orusades t<» the 16th century, the 
Italians, more especially the oities of Venice, Genoa, and Pise, 
had the chief management of European oommeroei in the 
maritime discoveries, and the commercial enterprise of the 
15th and 16th oenturies, Portugal and Spain took the lead ; and 
«in the diecovery of s passage t«> Indie pound the Cape of Good 
I tope, the commerce of Europe was turned into new channels, 
ami the Italian oities declined. 

n. Spain and Portugal have long since lost their formei 
comparative rank in commerce, wealth, and power. They 
were succeeded in maritime enterprise and activity by the 
Netherlands, Holland, and England, which became, In turn, 
tiir mosl commercial states in Europe. 

9. The most powerful states in Europe, at the present time, 
are England, Branoe, Russia, Austria, and Prussia j the last 
three of which are comparatively very modem. The history 

of England is tO Americans more important than that Of any 

other European country ; and next to that in [importance is the 
history of Prance. 



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134 FRANCE. 

victory over the Saracens, between Tours and Poictiers, and 
who was succeeded in office by his son, Pepin le Bref, or the 
Short, so called from his low stature, being only four and a 
half feet high. 

5. Pepin governed France while the weak Childeric III. 
was nominally king ; and being a man of talents and ambition, 
he proposed the question to Pope Zachary, whether he himself 
or Childeric was the best entitled to the crown. Zachary, 
from interested motives, decided in favor of Pepin, who was 
accordingly crowned at Soissons, by St. Boniface, Bishop of 
Mentz, and became the founder of the second or Carlovingian 
race of French kings. Pepin recompensed the services done 
him by the pope, by turning his arms, during the pontificate 
of Stephen II, who succeeded Zachary, against the Lombards 
in Italy, and by granting the exarchate of Ravenna and other 
territories to the see of Rome. In this manner the pope was, 
in 755, raised to the rank of a temporal prince. 

6. Pepin was succeeded by his two sons, Charles and Carlo- 
man ; but the latter dying not long after the death of his father, 
Charles possessed the undivided sovereignty. This distin- 
guished monarch is known in history by the name of Charle- 
magne, or Charles the Great. Notwithstanding the diminutive 
stature of his father, he is said to have been seven feet in 
height, of a robust constitution and majestic appearance. 

7. Charlemagne was far the greatest monarch of his age, 
and distinguished both as a conqueror and a statesman. He 
was engaged in war during most of his reign, had a long and 
bloody contest with the Saxons, put an end to the kingdom of 
the Lombards in Italy, by defeating Desiderius or Didier, 
their last sovereign, and made extensive conquests ; but he 
sustained a great defeat by the Spaniards, at Roncesvalles. In 
800 he was crowned Emperor of the West, by the pope. His 
empire comprised France, the Netherlands, Germany, Switzer- 
land, a great part of Italy, and part of Spain. He had no 
permanent capital, though Aix-la-Chapelle was, for a long 
time, his favorite residence. 

8. Charlemagne was a luminary in a dark age, and an emi- 
nent patron of learning. " He stands alone," says Hallam, 
" like a beacon upon a waste, or a rock in the broad ocean." 
His court was frequented by Alcuin and other learned men ; 
and he endeavored to dispel the profound ignorance which 
generally prevailed. He manifested his zeal for religion by 
compelling those whom he subdued to receive Christian bap- 
tism, on the pain of being either made slaves or of suffering 
death. Succeeding generations, impressed with a grateful 
sense of the services which he rendered to the church, 



FRANCE. 135 

canonized his memory, and turned this bloody warrior into 
an eminent saint. 

9. His private character, though stained with vices, exhibited 
many estimable qualities. On days of ceremony, he made a 
great display of luxury and splendor in his apparel ; but at 
other times he was plain in his dress, and frugal in regard to 
his table. The economy of his family was characteristic of 
an age of great simplicity. He superintended his farms, and 
trained his sons himself to manly exercises : the women be- 
longing to his court made use of the needle, and managed the 
distaff; and he took delight in appearing ornamented with the 
productions of his wife and daughters. 

10. Charlemagne was succeeded, in 814, by his son, Louis 
the Debonair, whose reign was inglorious and turbulent, and 
who divided his dominions among his sons. The quarrels 
of the rival brothers, which commenced before the death of 
their father, involved their subjects in a sanguinary war, and 
the family contest was decided in a great battle on the plains 
of Fontenay, where no less than 100,000 men are said to have 
fallen, and most of the ancient nobility of France perished. 
A new division of the empire followed ; Charles the Bald re- 
ceiving the western part of France, termed Aquitaine and 
Neustria ; Lothaire, Italy and some of the southern provinces 
of France ; and Louis, Germany. During the reign of Charles, 
the Normans, from Scandinavia, commenced their invasions of 
France, and burnt Paris. 

11. Charles, after a weak and inglorious reign, was suc- 
ceeded by his son, Louis the Stammerer, who, in order to in- 
sure tranquillity to his estates, made numerous grants of lands, 
titles, and offices to his nobles and bishops. After a short 
reign, he left his kingdom to his two sons, Louis III. and 
Carloman. After the death of these princes, the emperor 
Charles the Fat was elected to the vacant throne ; but he gov- 
erned with so much imbecility, that he was soon dethroned, 
and the imperial dignity was transferred to Germany. 

12. The nobility gave the crown to Eudes, till Charles the 
Simple should attain to the age of manhood ; and on the death 
of the former, the latter was raised to the throne ; but he was 
deposed by Robert, the brother of Eudes ; and Robert was 
succeeded by his son-in-law Rodolph. During the reign of 
Charles the Simple, the Normans, under Rollo, invaded and 
took Neustria, and, in 912, established themselves in the coun- 
try, which from them was named Normandy. 

13. During the succeeding reigns of Louis IV. and Lo- 
thaire, Hugh the Great, the most powerful nobleman in France, 
obtained the chief direction of the government ; and in the 



136 FRANCE. 

reign of Louis V., he was succeeded in his authority by his 
son Hugh Capet, who, on the death of Louis, placed himself 
upon the throne, and founded the third or Capetian race of 
French kings, in 987. 



SECTION II. 

Capetian Kings, from Hugh Capet to Philip VI. of Valois. 
— From A. D. 987 to 1328. 

1. Hugh Capet, an able and politic sovereign, added con- 
siderable territories to the kingdom, and made Paris his capi- 
tal. He was succeeded by his son Robert, who was com- 
manded by the pope to divorce his queen Bertha, because she 
was his cousin in the fourth degree. But he refused to com- 
ply, and was excommunicated. He was, in consequence, re- 
duced to the most abject condition, being abandoned by all his 
courtiers, as a person infected with the plague ; and was finally 
compelled to submit. 

2. The quiet of his son and successor, Henry L, was dis- 
turbed by the hostile designs of his unnatural mother, Con- 
stantia. During his reign a law was enacted, called the truce 
of God, prohibiting private combats between Thursday and 
Sunday. This was all that the ecclesiastical and civil power 
united could, in this age, do to check the general rage for 
duelling. 

3. The reign of Philip I., the successor of Henry, was sig- 
nalized by the first crusade, preached by Peter the Hermit ; 
and by the invasion of France, in 1087, by William the Con- 
queror, of England. From this event may be dated the long- 
continued rivalship and hostility between the French and 
English monarchies, which form a leading feature in their 
history during several centuries. 

4. Louis VI., surnamed the Fat, the son of Philip, was an 
able and accomplished sovereign, and had a prosperous and 
useful reign. On his death-bed he addressed his son, who 
succeeded him, in the following words : u Remember that 
royalty is nothing more than a public charge, of which you 
must render a very strict account to Him who makes kings, 
and who will judge them." 

5. Louis VII., surnamed the Young, having been educated 
in an abbey, was zealous for the religion of the age. The 
abbeys, at this period, produced some eminent men, among 
whom were Suger, abbot of St. Denis, a great politician ; St. 
Bernard, abbot of Clairvaux, famous for his eloquence and 



FRANCE. 137 

zeal ; and Abelard, celebrated for his genius, and his learning 
in scholastic theology, and not less so for his unhappy connec- 
tion with Heloise. 

6. A civil war was excited on account of the refusal of 
Louis to assent to the choice of an archbishop, who was sup- 
ported by the pope. The king entered the town of Vitry at 
the head of a large army, and caused the parochial church, in 
which the rebellious inhabitants had taken refuge, to be set on 
fire, and 1,300 persons perished in the flames. The remorse 
which Louis felt for this act of cruelty and sacrilege gave rise 
to the second crusade, which was preached by St. Bernard. 

7. Louis had married Eleanor, heiress of the great duchy 
of Guienne, whom he divorced for her levities and vices ; and, 
in six weeks, she married Henry Plantagenet, Earl of Anjou, 
who became, the next year, Henry II. of England, and who, 
by this marriage, acquired a great addition to his possessions 
in France. 

8. Philip II., surnamed Augustus, on account of his ex- 
ploits, surpassed, in systematic ambition and military enter- 
prise, all the sovereigns who had reigned in France since the 
time of Charlemagne. He signalized the commencement of 
his reign by a tyrannical act, in confiscating the property of 
the Jews in France, and banishing them from his dominions ; 
he soon after joined Richard I. of England in the third 
crusade. 

9. John, who succeeded Richard in the throne of England, 
was suspected of having murdered his nephew, Arthur ; and 
for this Philip summoned him, as his vassal, to be tried by a 
court of his peers ; but John, refusing to obey the summons, 
was declared guilty of felony, and his possessions were con- 
fiscated. Philip, with his troops, in 1204, invaded and made a 
conquest of Normandy, and reunited it to the crown of France ; 
and the King of England then lost all his territories in tha* 
country, with the exception of Guienne. 

10. Philip, who left his kingdom about twice as large as he 
found it, was succeeded by his son, Louis VIII, who was sur. 
named the Lion, on account of his valor, and whose short reign 
was chiefly distinguished by a barbarous crusade against the 
Albigenses. 

11. Louis IX., commonly called Saint Louis, succeeded to 
the throne at the age of 12 years ; and during his minority, his 
mother, Blanche of Castile, filled the office of regent with 
great firmness and courage. St. Louis was distinguished for 
his uprightness, benevolence, and piety, and with regard to the 
purity of intention, has, perhaps, scarcely been excelled by 
any sovereign that ever sat on a throne ; and his long reign 

12* 



138 FRANCE. 

was, in many respects, highly beneficial to his country. His 
principal weakness was superstition, which, in a great measure, 
effaced the good effects of his virtues, and which prompted 
him to engage in two disastrous crusades, in the second of 
which he died near Tunis. 

12. St. Louis was succeeded by his son, Philip III., sur- 
named the Hardy, or Bold, because, when a prisoner with his 
father in Africa, he had the boldness to punish a soldier who 
treated him with insolence ; or, as others say, because he ex- 
tricated the remains of the army in Africa, and brought the 
crusade, which was undertaken by his father, to a favorable 
issue. During this reign, an insurrection took place in Sicily, 
which was occasioned by the tj^ranny of Charles of Anjou, 
uncle of Philip, who had recently become king of that island ; 
and 8 or 10,000 Frenchmen were massacred, on the evening 
of Easter-day, in 1282, a transaction called the massacre of 
the Sicilian Vespers. 

13. Philip IV., surnamed the Fair, from the beauty of his 
countenance and the elegance of his person, was distinguished 
for his ambition, dissimulation, perfidy, and cruelty, and was 
engaged in continual contests. By endeavoring to raise money 
from the clergy, as well as from his other subjects, he was in- 
volved in a quarrel with the ambitious and haughty Pope Boni- 
face VIII., who prohibited the clergy from paying the assess- 
ment, laid France under an interdict, and issued a bull, declaring 
" that the Vicar of Christ is vested with full authority over the 
kings and kingdoms on the earth." 

14. The arrogant pontiff died during the contest, and Philip 
managed to get Clement V., a Frenchman devoted to his in- 
terests, elected his successor, and transferred, in 1308, the seat 
of the papacy from Rome to Avignon, where it continued 70 
years. This removal greatly exasperated the Italians, who, in 
consequence, became hostile to the pope, and styled his resi- 
dence at Avignon, " The Babylonish captivity of the Holy 
See." — The fraternity of Knights Templars, a religious and 
military order of great wealth, was abolished by Philip, and 
their property confiscated ; but a measure more creditable to 
him was his instituting parliaments. 

15. Philip was succeeded by his son, Louis X., surnamed 
Hutin, that is, the Stubborn, or Wrangler, whose short reign 
was signalized by the execution of his prime minister, Marigni, 
for pretended crimes, though, in reality, for his wealth. Philip 
V., the Long, on the death of John I., the infant son of Philip 
IV., succeeded to the throne. His reign is noted chiefly for a 
barbarous massacre and banishment of the Jews, who were 
accused of having poisoned the wells and fountains of water. 



FRANCE. 139 

His successor, Charles IV., the Fair, was the last of three 
brothers, whose reigns were all short, and who were always 
necessitous in respect to their finances, and little scrupulous 
with regard to their methods of improving them. 



SECTION III. 

Branch of Valois : — Philip VI. ; John II. ; Charles V. ; 
Charles VI. ; Charles VII. ; Louis XL ; Charles VIII. — 
From A. D. 1328 to 1498. 

1. Philip the Fair left three sons, Louis Hutin, Philip the 
Long, and Charles the Fair, who were all successively kings 
of France, but who all died without leaving any male heirs ; 
and one daughter, Isabella, Queen of England, and mother of 
Edward III. On the death of Charles the Fair, the male 
succession to the throne devolved on Philip VI. of Valois, 
Charles's cousin-german ; and his title was universally ac- 
knowledged and supported by the French nation. 

2. But Edward III. of England was a nearer relative on 
the female side, and he asserted his claim in right of his 
mother. This claim gave rise to those contests for the French 
crown by the kings of England, which are so famous in the 
history of both countries. Edward invaded France with an 
army of 30,000 men, in order to enforce his claim, gained the 
famous battle of Cressy, in 1346, and besieged and took Calais. 
— In the midst of these misfortunes, Philip had the satisfaction 
of seeing Dauphiny annexed to the crown of France, by Hu- 
bert, the last count, on condition that the king's eldest son 
should bear the title of Dauphin. 

3. Philip was succeeded by his son John II., surnamed the 
Good, who was still more unfortunate than his father, being 
utterly defeated, in 1356, by the English, under the Black 
Prince, near Poictiers, and carried a prisoner to London, 
where he died. 

4. During the captivity of John, the kingdom was thrown 
into the greatest disorder and confusion ; but soon after his 
son, Charles V., surnamed the Wise, ascended the throne, the 
condition of the country began to improve. This distinguished 
sovereign resolved to make France a match for England ; and, 
in order to effect this object, he deemed it necessary to restore 
tranquillity to the people, and inspire them with confidence in 
the government. He raised to the office of Constable of 
France the celebrated Du Guesclin, who was one of the great- 



140 FRANCE. 

est generals of the age, though he is represented as so illiterate 
that he was unable to read or write. The French, under his 
command, drove into Spain the banditti that had ravaged the 
country, routed Charles, king of Navarre, and expelled the 
English from all their possessions in France, except Bour- 
deaux, Bayonne, and Calais. 

5. Charles was one of the best sovereigns that have sat on 
the throne of France ; a sagacious statesman, a beneficent 
lawgiver, a patron of literature, and an excellent man in his 
private character. His father left him a library of only 20 
volumes ; to which he added 900, which rendered it one of the 
greatest libraries then existing ; and it was an immense number 
for that period, when printing was not yet invented. Charles 
may be regarded as the founder of the royal library at Paris, 
which is now the largest library in the world. 

6. This eminent sovereign was succeeded by his son, Charles 
VI, styled the Well-beloved, a, weak prince, subject to insanity, 
which, at last, reduced him almost to idiocy. His life and 
his reign were alike miserable, and all the fruits of the wisdom 
of his father's government were soon lost. His queen, Isa- 
bella of Bavaria, was of most infamous character, and the 
court was notorious for profligacy. The kingdom was gov- 
erned by a succession of regents, whose misconduct occa- 
sioned seditions and rebellions. 

7. During this calamitous state of France, Henry V. of 
England invaded the country, gained, in 1415, the memorable 
victory of Agincourt, and after obtaining other advantages, he 
concluded the treaty of Troyes, by which his succession to the 
throne, on the death of Charles, was acknowledged. Henry 
and Charles both died soon after this transaction. 

8. Charles VII , afterwards surnamed the Victorious, son 
of Charles VI., asserted his right to the crown ; and the infant 
Henry VI. of England was also proclaimed King of France, 
under the regency of his uncle, the Duke of Bedford. The 
English undertook the siege of Orleans, a place of the utmost 
importance, and pushed their designs so successfully, that the 
affairs of Charles seemed almost desperate, when they were 
suddenly restored by one of the most marvellous transactions 
recorded in history. 

9. An obscure country girl, 27 years of age, who had 
lived in the humble station of a servant at an inn, over- 
threw the power of England. This was that wonderful hero- 
ine, Joan of Arc, otherwise called the Maid of Orleans, who 
appeared at this juncture, pretending to be Divinely commis- 
sioned to deliver her oppressed country, and promising to raise 



FRANCE. 141 

the siege of Orleans, and to conduct the king to Rheims to be 
crowned. 

10. Her mission was pronounced by an assembly of divines 
to be supernatural ; and, at her own request, she was armed 
cap-a-pie, dressed like a man, mounted on horseback, entered 
Orleans at the head of the French troops, and actually com- 
pelled the English to raise the siege (1429). Charles, in obe- 
dience to her exhortations, proceeded to Rheims, which was 
then in possession of the English, entered it without difficulty* 
and was there crowned. Joan then declared that her mission 
was ended, and requested leave to retire ; but her presence 
was thought still necessary, and, being detained, she afterwards 
fell into the hands of the English, who condemned her for 
witchcraft, and caused her to be burnt alive at Rouen. 

11. The French gained further victories, and the English 
were finally expelled from all their possessions in the country, 
except Calais. Charles now directed his attention to the im- 
provement of the internal condition of his kingdom, and was a 
useful and popular sovereign. The latter part of his life was 
imbittered by the undutiful and rebellious conduct of his son, 
the Dauphin, by whom he was in such fear of being poisoned, 
that he is said to have died through want of sustenance. 

12. Louis XL, who was an odious compound of dissimu- 
lation, profligacy, cruelty, and superstition, is sometimes styled 
the Tiberius of France ; yet he obtained from the pope the title 
of Most Christian, a title ever since annexed to the name of the 
French kings. He possessed, however, considerable talents, 
great application to business, and affability to his inferiors ; 
and he was the author of many wise laws and excellent regu- 
lations for the encouragement of commerce, and for promoting 
the administration of justice. 

13. It was his policy to humble the feudal nobles, who formed 
a confederacy against him, and engaged in a contest to preserve 
their authority, entitled " the war of the public good." The 
barbarity of the public executions during his reign is almost 
incredible : his own life was rendered miserable, especially 
towards its close, by the knowledge of his being generally 
hated, and by the torments of a guilty conscience. 

14. Charles VIII. , the son of Louis, succeeded to the throne, 
at the age of 13 years. He was mild in his disposition and 
courteous in his manners, and received the surname of the 
Affable, or Civil. His father had acquired a claim to the king- 
dom of Naples ; and, on coming of age, he engaged in an ex- 
pedition for the conquest of that country, which was easily 
accomplished ; but the possession of it was soon lost. 



142 FRANCE. 



SECTION IV. 



Louis XII. ; Francis I. ; Henry II. ; Francis II. ; Charles 
IX. ; Henry III. — From A. D. 1498 to 1589. 

1. Charles VIII., who was the last of the direct line of the 
house of Valois, was succeeded by Louis XII, Duke of Or- 
leans, great-grandson of Charles V. He was a beneficent and 
popular sovereign, though injudicious and unfortunate in his 
enterprises. Being frugal in his policy, he diminished the 
taxes and burdens of his subjects, and gained the title of 
" the Father of his People." He retained the ministers of 
the late king in office, even those who had treated him ill be- 
fore he came to the throne. " It is unworthy of the King of 
France," said he, " to punish the injuries done to the Duke of 
Orleans." 

2. Near the commencement of his reign, he reduced Milan 
and Genoa, and afterwards prosecuted his claim to Naples ; 
but though, by the aid of his generals, the celebrated Chevalier 
Bayard and Gaston de Foix, he obtained some advantages, he 
was ultimately unsuccessful, and became the dupe of his 
allies, Ferdinand of Spain, and the infamous Pope Alexander 
VI. ; and the former, by treachery, got possession of the whole 
of Naples. 

3. At this period, the republic of Venice, on account of its 
wealth, acquired by commerce, excited the envy and jealousy 
of its neighbors, particularly of the politic and ambitious Pope 
Julius II., who projected against it the famous League of 
Cambray, in 1508, which was composed of the Pope, the Em- 
peror of Germany, and the Kings of France and Spain. Louis 
entered with spirit into the war against Venice, and gained the 
famous victory of Agnadello. But the confederates afterwards 
quarrelled with each other, and a new league was formed 
against France. 

4. The French, under the command of Gaston de Foix, 
gained a victory over the new confederates at Ravenna, but 
it cost them the life of their commander. The death of this 
celebrated hero was fatal to Louis, for he soon afterwards lost 
all the places which he possessed in Italy, and was compelled 
to evacuate the country. In the midst of his preparations to 
recover these losses, Louis died suddenly, and the exclamation 
of " The good king is dead ! " was heard on every side. 

5. Francis L, Duke of Angouleme, and nephew of Louis 
XII., succeeded to the throne, at the age of 21 years. He was 



FRANCE. 143 

of a romantic turn, fond of war, and eager for glory ; and he 
departed from the frugal maxims of his predecessor, and soon 
distinguished himself by the conquest of the Milanese. 

6. In 1519, on the death of Maximilian, Emperor of Ger- 
many, Francis and Charles V. (who was then King of Spain) 
became rival candidates for the imperial crown. Francis, 
speaking with Charles respecting the object of their competi- 
tion, said, with his natural vivacity and frankness, " We are 
suitors to the same mistress ; the more fortunate will win her, 
but the other must remain contented." 

7. Charles was the successful candidate ; and Francis, whose 
heart was too much set upon the prize to lose it with quiet 
feelings, retired disappointed, and thirsting for revenge. Tht 
two rivals were now declared enemies, and their mutual claims 
on each other's dominions were the subject of perpetual hos- 
tility during nearly the whole of their long reigns. 

8. The reign of Charles V. forms a distinguished period in 
history, — memorable not only for the wars and contests 
among the states of Europe, but still more so for the estab- 
lishment of the Reformation, the advancement of literature, 
the extension of commerce, and the impulse given to the prog- 
ress of society. Charles was the greatest sovereign of the 
age, and superior to his rival, Francis, both in policy and 
power. Other distinguished sovereigns of the same age were 
Henry VIII. of England, who was courted by both of the 
rival monarchs, and, in some degree, involved in their wars ; 
Solyman the Magnificent, Sultan of Turkey, a formidable 
enemy of Charles ; Gustavus Vasa of Sweden ; and Pope 
Leo X. 

9. In the contest between the two rivals, the first hostile at- 
tack was made by Francis on the kingdom of Navarre, which 
was won and lost in the space of a few months. The emperor 
attacked Picardy, and his troops, at the same time, drove the 
French out of the Milanese. Francis quarrelled with his best 
general, the Constable of Bourbon, who, in revenge, deserted 
to the emperor, and was by him invested with the chief com- 
mand of his armies. The French king marched into Italy 
with great success, and laid siege to Pavia ; but was here, in 
1525, defeated by Bourbon, and taken prisoner. 

10. Francis was detained some time at Madrid by Charles, 
who compelled him to comply with disadvantageous terms of 
peace. After being set at liberty, and having passed the bound • 
aries between Spain and France, he mounted his horse, and, 
waving his hand over his head, exultingly exclaimed, several 
times, " I am yet a king ! " Charles had not treated him with 
generosity, having extorted from him more promises than a 



144 . FRANCE. 

king, restored to freedom, would be likely to perform, and 
more than his subjects would assent to. The violations of this 
treaty occasioned, between the two sovereigns, insulting chal- 
lenges and new wars. 

11. After war had been prosecuted with various success, a 
truce was at length agreed upon, and a circumstance took 
place, which brought the rival monarchs, who had been en- 
gaged 20 years in hostilities with each other, to a personal 
interview, in 1538, at Aigues Mortes, in the south of France. 
On meeting, they vied with each other in expressions of respect 
and friendship. The next year, Charles obtained permission 
of Francis to pass through France on his way to the Nether- 
lands, and was entertained, during a stay of six days in Paris, 
with great magnificence. 

12. Charles having afterwards refused to give up Milan to 
France, as he had promised, the war was again renewed with 
redoubled animosity ; but its final issue, as had usually been 
the case, was unfavorable to the designs of the King of France, 
who died immediately after the restoration of peace. 

13. Though Francis was engaged in war during the whole 
of his reign, and was unsuccessful in his projects, yet he left 
his kingdom in a flourishing condition. He was a patron of 
literature and the arts, which made great progress in France 
during his reign ; and at this period, the French court acquired 
much of that external polish and refinement for which it has 
been since distinguished. 

14. Francis possessed, in a high degree, those qualities 
which captivate the multitude, — impetuous courage, great de- 
cision and activity of mind, a frank disposition, and a generous 
heart ; and there was a polish about his manners, an amiable- 
ness about his more common actions and his mode of perform- 
ing them, and a delicacy and strictness of honor about his 
whole conduct, which characterize a finished gentleman. Yet 
he was far from being actuated by a sense of justice and good 
faith in his public character ; nor were his private morals free 
from reproach. He formed his plans with too little delibera- 
tion, and was wanting in perseverance. It was his misfortune 
to contend with a rival, who was more than a match for him in 
policy and resources. 

15. Henry 7T., the son and successor of Francis, was brave, 
affable, and polite, in some respects resembling his father, yet 
possessing far less talent, and easily governed by favorites. 
His reign, which was 13 years in duration, was spent in war, 
chiefly with Charles F., and his son, Philip II. of Spain. 
Charles sustained a great loss at the siege of Metx ; but Philip 



FRANCE. 145 

obtained over Henry, in 1557, the famous victory of St. 
Quentin. in commemoration of which he built the palace of 
the Escurial. 

16. This war, the success of which had not been much to 
the satisfaction of either party, was terminated by the treatv 
of Chateau Cambresis. The reign of Henry was signalized 
by the recovery of Calais from the English, and bv the in- 
crease of those persecutions of the Cahinists, or Protestants, 
often also called Huguenots, which had been begun in the 
reign of his father, and which gave rise to the civil wars which 
distracted France during the three succeeding reigns. 

17. The successor of Henry II. was his son. Francis II, 
the first husband of Mary, afterwards Queen of Scots, who 
died after a reign of one year, and was succeeded by his broth- 
er, Charles IX., then a boy only ten years old, who had for his 
guardian his mother, Catherine de Medici, an ambitious, in- 
triguing, and unprincipled woman. 

IS. At this time, the Protestant religion had spread exten- 
sively in France, and was professed by some men of great in- 
fluence at court, among whom were the Prince of Condi and 
Admiral Coligny. 

19. At the head of the Catholics was the ambitious and 
powerful family of the Guises, consisting: of five brothers, the 
most prominent of whom were the Duke of Guise and the 
Cardinal of Lorraine, who were leading men in the govern- 
ment. To the intolerance and cruelty of this family the 
Protestants attributed all their calamities ; and the conspiracy 
of Amboise was formed for the destruction of the Catholic 
leaders. It was, however, discovered, and about l.'20O con- 
spirators were massacred and executed. 

20. In 1561, a public conference was held for discussing the 
points in dispute between the two parties. In this icscossios, 
Theodore Beza defended the cause of the Protestants, and the 

Lorraine that of the Catholic church, before the 
king, the princes of the blood, and a number of nobles and 
dignified ecclesiastics. The differences, however, were not to 
be decided by words ; but not long after, an edict was publish- 
ed, granting liberty to the Protestants to exercise their 
without the wails of towns. But this edict being soon violated, 
both parties flew to arms, and commenced the sanguinary civil 
war which, for a long time, harassed the kingdom. 

21. The Catholics, under the command of Guise and Mont- 
morency, defeated the Protestants, commanded by Condi and 
Colignu. in several engagements: but the latter were still 

13 



146 FRANCE. 

powerful, and obtained, in 1570, conditions of peace, which 
granted them amnesty and liberty of conscience. But this 
treaty of peace, so far as Catherine de Medici and her party 
were concerned, was an act of treachery, got up for the pur- 
pose of luring the Protestant chiefs to their destruction. 

22. The marriage of Henry of Navarre (afterwards Henry 
IV. of France) with Margaret, King Charles's sister, was 
celebrated with great pomp on the 18th of August, 1572. 
Most of the Protestant nobility and gentry, with Admiral Colig- 
ny at their head, were induced to attend on the occasion ; and 
three or four days were spent in all sorts of festivities. A 
plan for the massacre of the Protestants having been arranged, 
the execution of it was intrusted to the Dukes of Guise, Anjou, 
and Aumale, Montpensier, and Marshal Tavannes. At a very 
early hour in the morning of the 24th, St, Bartholomew'' s day, 
the signal was given, and the work of slaughter commenced ; 
and, before five o'clock in the morning, Admiral Coligny and 
his friends, without regard to age or sex, were murdered in cold 
blood. The court leaders, as they galloped through the streets, 
shouted, " Death to the Huguenots ! — treason ! — courage ! — 
kill every man of them ! — it is the king's orders ! " The fury 
of the populace was excited to such a degree, that it could not 
easily be restrained ; the slaughter was partially continued for 
three days ; and, to gratify private hatred or revenge, many 
Catholics were slain by the hand of Catholic assassins. 

23. This inhuman butchery, which was commenced at Paris, 
was extended throughout France, and the whole number mur- 
dered is stated by Sully at 70,000 ; though some state it at 
only 25,000. The French historian, De Thou [Thuanus], ob- 
serves of this massacre, that " No example of equal barbarity 
is to be found in all antiquity, or in the annals of the world." 

24. Charles, who is represented by some to have given his 
consent with reluctance to the plot, after having done it, ex- 
pressed the hope that not a single Huguenot would be left alive 
to reproach him with the deed ; and the next day he went in 
state to the parliament of Paris, and avowed himself the author 
of the massacre, claiming to himself the merit of having there- 
by given peace to his kingdom. 

25. When the news of this horrible transaction was heard at 
Rome, solemn thanks were given for " the triumph of the 
church militant ! " Charles died soon after this massacre, for 
which he is said to have suffered the bitterest remorse. Not- 
withstanding the distractions of this unhappy reign, many wise 
laws were enacted through the influence of the celebrated 
chancellor De VHopital. 



FRANCE. 147 

26. Charles was succeeded by his brother Henry III., a 
weak, fickle, and vicious monarch. The massacre of St. Bar- 
tholomew served rather to strengthen than weaken the Protes- 
tants, who were now a powerful party, and had at their head 
the Prince of Conde and the King of Navarre. Henry found 
it expedient to grant them some privileges : this measure in- 
censed the Catholics, who, with the Duke of Guise at their 
head, formed the celebrated League for the purpose of extir- 
pating the Calvinists : it had also another and more secret ob- 
ject, that of usurping all the powers of government. 

27. The king was persuaded to unite himself with this 
league, and took the field against the Protestants. But he soon 
found himself deprived of a great part of his authority by the 
Duke of Guise ; and after repeated contests, Henry caused the 
duke, and his brother, the Cardinal of Lorraine, to be put to 
death by the hand of assassins. This act excited an insurrec- 
tion throughout France, and subjected the king to the abhor- 
rence of his subjects ; and he was soon after assassinated 
himself by James Clement, a Dominican friar. 



SECTION V. 

House of Bourbon : — Henry IV. ; Louis XIII. ; Louis 
XIV. — From A. D. 1589 to 1715. 

1. As Henry III. died without children, and the house of 
Valois was extinct, the throne passed to the house of Bourbon, 
in the person of Henry III., King of Navarre, who now be- 
came Henry IV. of France, afterwards surnamed the Great. 
His mother had avowed herself the protector of the Reformed 
religion, in which he had been educated. He was now in his 
36th year ; an able general, possessed of distinguished talents 
and popular qualities, for the exercise of all which he soon 
found ample occasion, as his being a Protestant prejudiced the 
greater part of his people against him. 

2. The army of the League was now commanded by the 
Duke of Mayenne, brother of the late Duke of Guise, who pro- 
claimed his uncle, the Cardinal of Bourbon, king, by the title 
of Charles X. Henry defeated this army in the famous battle 
of Ivry (1590). 

3. Meeting afterwards with various obstacles, he was in- 
duced, by views of policy, in order to conciliate the majority* 
of his subjects, to renounce Protestantism, and declare himself 
a Catholic. He was then crowned at Chartres, and obtained 



148 FRANCE. 

absolution from the Pope. To his old friends, the Calvin- 
ists, who had been his defenders, and by whose aid he as- 
cended the throne, he granted, in 1598, the celebrated 
Edict of Nantes, by which he confirmed all their rights 
and privileges, giving them free admission to all offices of 
honor and profit. 

4. After Henry was quietly seated on the throne, he turned 
his attention to the improvement of the internal condition of 
his kingdom ; encouraging agriculture and commerce, causing 
mulberry-trees to be planted, and silk- worms to be reared ; 
and in all his patriotic designs, he found an able assistant in his 
great minister, the Duke of Sully, in whom he possessed what 
kings can rarely boast of, — a true friend. The civil war, of 
nearly thirty years 1 duration, had produced the most calami- 
tous effects : the crown was loaded with debt ; the country un- 
cultivated ; the people poor and miserable : but by means of 
the wise and prudent measures which were adopted, the face 
of things was soon happily changed ; and, during this reign, 
all the state debts were discharged. 

5. Henry, with the aid of Sully, formed a romantic scheme, 
styled the grand design, for dividing Europe into 15 states, so 
arranged as to avoid the grounds of war, and secure perpetual 
peace. With regard to his real motive, there have been differ- 
ent opinions ; but the object, whatever it might be, was to be 
obtained by force of arms. Having made great preparations 
for war, just before he was to set out to put himself at the head 
of his army, he was assassinated, in 1610, by Ravaillac, a 
bigoted Catholic, in the 21st year of his reign, and the 57th of 
his age. 

6. Henry was the most popular sovereign that ever sat on 
the throne of France. His person and manners were prepos- 
sessing, at once inspiring affection and commanding respect : 
his talents were great, both as a general and a statesman ; but 
his master virtue was his love for his people. His soldiers 
and his subjects regarded him with the affection of children. 
When asked what the revenue of France amounted to, he re- 
plied, " To what I please ; for, having the hearts of my peo- 
ple, they will give me whatever I ask. If God sees proper 
to spare my life, I will take care that France shall be in such 
a condition, that every peasant in it shall be able to have a 
fowl in his pot." 

7. Notwithstanding his many noble qualities as a sovereign 
and a man, yet, as a husband, he is little to be commended ; 
his dissoluteness rendered his domestic life unhappy, and the 
manners of his court were rendered profligate by the example 
of his libertine conduct. No less than 4,000 French gentle- 



FRANCE. 149 

men are said to have been killed in duels, chiefly arising out 
of amorous quarrels, during the first 18 years of his reign. 

8. Henry was succeeded by his son, Louis XIII. , then a boy 
in his 9th year. Mary de Medici, the mother of the young 
king, who was appointed regent, disgusted the nobility by her 
partiality for Italian favorites, and the kingdom soon relapsed 
into the most fatal disorders. But the abilities of Cardinal 
Richelieu, who, after the king became of age, was made Prime 
Minister, soon effected a great change. It was his policy to 
promote rather the aggrandizement of the kingdom, than the 
true interests and happiness of the people. His three leading 
objects were, to subdue the turbulent spirit of the French no- 
bility, to humble the power of the Protestants, and to curb the 
encroachments of the house of Austria. 

9. The Protestants, alienated by persecution, attempted to 
throw off their allegiance, and establish an independent state, 
of which Rochelle-wdiS to be the capital. Richelieu laid siege 
to this city, which, after maintaining a most obstinate resist- 
ance for a year, during which 15,000 persons perished, was 
forced to surrender (1628). By this event, the civil war was 
ended, and the Protestant power in France finally crushed. 

10. The cardinal entered deeply into foreign politics, influ- 
enced all the courts of Europe, and was continually engaged 
in vast projects for humbling his enemies, and extending his 
influence abroad, or in checking the designs which were formed 
against his power and his life at home. A rebellion was ex- 
cited by the Duke of Orleans, the king's brother, supported by 
the Duke of Montmorency ; but their army was defeated, and 
Montmorency executed for treason. Amidst all this turbu- 
lence and intrigue, the haughty and ambitious cardinal extend- 
ed the glory of the French name to distant regions, commanded 
the respect of all the European powers, patronized literature 
and science, and instituted the French Academy. 

11. Louis was so completely under the influence of Riche- 
lieu, that his character is little seen. He acquired the epithet 
of Just ; but if he were entitled to it, the injustice and cruelty 
of some of the public measures of his reign must be imputed 
entirely to his minister. 

12. Louis XIV. (sometimes surnamed the Great) succeeded 
to the throne, in 1643, in the 5th year of his age, under the 
regency of his mother, Anne of Austria, who made choice of 
Cardinal Mazarin for her minister. Mazarin was an artful 
Italian, whose excessive avarice rendered him odious to the 
people ; but one of his greatest faults was his neglect of the 
education of the young king, who was instructed only in dan- 

13* 



150 FRANCE. 

cing, fencing, and other superficial accomplishments. The ad- 
ministration of Mazarin was signalized by the defeat of the 
Spaniards, and by intestine commotions, particularly a civil 
war, called the Fronde, fomented by Cardinal de Retz, and 
supported by the aristocracy. 

13. On the death of Mazarin, Louis, being now 22 years of 
age, took upon himself the entire command and direction of 
the affairs of government, and entered on a vigorous and 
splendid career. The love of glory was his ruling passion, 
and this he pursued, not only by the terror of his arms and the 
splendor of his conquests, but also by his patronage of litera- 
ture, science, and the arts ; by his able administration of in- 
ternal affairs ; and by the extension and improvement of all 
kinds of public works. The capital was embellished, the 
splendid palace of Versailles built, commerce and manufac- 
tures encouraged, the canal of Languedoc, and other useful 
works, constructed. 

14. The finances were admirably regulated by Colbert, one 
of the ablest statesmen of modern times : in the former part 
of his reign, his armies were commanded by Conde and Tu- 
renne, two of the greatest generals of the age ; and the genius 
of the famous Vauban was employed in fortifying his towns. 

15. For a long time, he was everywhere successful : he 
conquered Franche Compte, and annexed it to France ; made 
great conquests in the Netherlands ; overran Alsace ; and 
twice laid waste the Palatinate with fire and sword. Such 
was the barbarous devastation, that, in the first instance, from 
the top of the castle of Manheim, 27 cities and towns of the 
Palatinate were seen, at the same time, in flames ; and in the 
second instance, more than 40 towns and a vast number of 
villages were burnt, and the inhabitants reduced to the great- 
est extremities by hunger and cold. 

16. In 1675, Turenne was killed by a cannon-ball ; Conde 
soon after retired ; and Colbert died. No men of equal talents 
arose to supply their places. The conquests of Louis had 
been made at such an enormous expense, that his dominions 
were, in a measure, exhausted, and his means of defence 
weakened. He had, by his unbounded ambition, by the vio- 
lence and injustice of his projects, and the alarming increase 
of his power, gradually raised up, among the states of Europe, 
a formidable opposition to his authority, which gave rise to 
long and bloody wars. 

17. By the League of Augsburg, which was organized in 
1686, Holland, Spain, Sweden, and the Emperor and several of 
the princes of Germany, were united against him. In 1701, 
the alliance against France, by England, Germany, and Hoi- 



FRANCE. 151 

land, was formed ; and a series of reverses marked the latter 
part of his long reign. His armies had now to contend against 
the genius of the Duke of Marlborough and Prince Eugene, who 
gained over them the celebrated battles of Blenheim, Ramillies, 
Oudenarde, and Malplaquet ; and at the peace of Utrecht, he 
lost nearly all that he had gained. 

18. One of the most unjust as well as impolitic measures of 
Louis was the revocation (1685) of the Edict of Nantes, 
granted by Henry IV., for the toleration of the Protestants. 
By this barbarous act, all the Reformed churches were de- 
stroyed, their ministers banished, and every individual was 
outlawed, or compelled to renounce his religion. They were 
hunted like wild beasts, and great numbers were put to death. 
By this measure, the kingdom lost from 500,000 to 800,000 of 
her most useful and industrious citizens, who were driven into 
exile, and carried the arts and manufactures of France, in 
which the Protestants greatly excelled, to other countries. 

19. Louis died in the 73d year of his reign, and the 78th 
of his age. His reign was the longest and most brilliant in the 
history of France, but not the happiest for his country ; and 
his government was more despotic than that of his predeces- 
sors. " The greater part of his reign," says Anquetil, " may 
be considered as a spectacle with grand machinery, calculated 
to excite astonishment. Towards the end, we behold nothing 
but the wrecks of that theatrical majesty, and the illusion 
vanishes." 

20. Louis was one of the handsomest men in his kingdom, 
and excelled in all the polite accomplishments. In his appear- 
ance and manners there was an extraordinary degree of dig- 
nity and majesty, which were softened and tempered by 
affability and politeness ; so that, if he was not the greatest 
king, he was at least, as Bolingbroke expresses it, " the best 
actor of majesty that ever filled a throne." 

21. He possessed great vigor of mind, and good talents, 
which were, however, but little improved by education. His 
morals were dissolute, and his ambition and love of glory were 
insatiable, and led him to violate the duties of justice and 
humanity, and to sacrifice the real interests of his people. He 
patronized every species of merit, and his reign, which is re- 
garded as the Augustan age of French literature, was less illus- 
trious for military achievements, than for the splendor of the 
arts and sciences. 



152 FRANCE. 



SECTION VI. 

Louis XV. ; Louis XVI. : — The Revolution. — From A. D. 

1715 to 1793. 

1. Louis XV., great-grandson of the late king, succeeded 
to the throne, in 1715, in his 6th year ; and the Duke of Or- 
leans was appointed regent. This regency is remarkable 
chiefly for the famous Mississippi scheme of Law, who formed 
a project to pay off the national debt by the introduction of a 
paper currency ; — a scheme which was ruinous to the for- 
tunes of thousands. 

2. Louis, soon after he came of age, chose for his minister 
the mild and amiable Cardinal Fleury, who was then 73 years 
of age, and retained his vigor till near 90. By his pacific 
counsels, the tranquillity of France, and even of the rest of 
Europe, was continued, with little interruption, for nearly 20 
years. 

3. After the death of Fleury, France was involved in the 
war of the Austrian Succession, which was occasioned by the 
death of the emperor, Charles VI. There were two claimants 
to the imperial throne ; Maria Theresa, the late emperor's 
eldest daughter, who was married to Francis of Lorraine, 
Grand Duke of Tuscany ; and Charles, the Elector of Bavaria. 
The former was supported by England ; the latter by France 
and Prussia. In this war, the French were defeated by the 
allies, under George II. of England, at Dettingen ; but, under 
Marshal Saxe, they gained the battle of Fontenoy. Hostilities 
were terminated, in 1748, by the peace of Aix-la-Chapelle, by 
which the claim of Maria Theresa was acknowledged. 

4. In 1755, a war broke out between France and England 
respecting their American possessions, which was terminated 
by the peace of Paris, in 1763, when Canada and the other 
French territories in North America were ceded by France to 
Great Britain. The remainder of this reign was chiefly occu- 
pied with the conquest of Corsica, and contests between the 
king and his parliaments. 

5. Louis died, after a reign of 59 years, at the age of 65. 
He possessed nothing, as a king or a man, that entitled him to 
the gratitude or affection of his people. In the early part of 
his reign, his subjects conferred upon him the title of Well- 
beloved ; but a long course of rapacity, profusion, and tyranny, 
as a monarch, and of the most profligate debaucheries in pri- 
vate life, induced them to retract the appellation. His reign 



FRANCE. 153 

resembled that of Charles II. of England, in its pernicious in- 
fluence on the interests of religion, morality, and liberty. His 
own odious character ; his attempts to crush the spirit of free- 
dom ; the prodigality of his government ; the extreme profligacy 
of his court, — all conspired to loosen the bonds between the 
sovereign and his subjects, and prepare for the overthrow of 
all the ancient institutions of the kingdom ; and the general 
uneasiness and the murmurs of the people indicated ap- 
proaching storms. 

6. Louis XVI. succeeded his grandfather, in 1774, at the 
age of 20 years. He was a man of correct morals, upright 
intentions, desirous of correcting abuses, but was wanting in 
decision of character. His post was one beset with great diffi- 
culty and danger from various quarters. It was difficult either 
to do good or to continue evil, as the privileged classes were 
as little disposed to submit to reforms as the people to abuses. 
The finances, by reason of the long course of prodigality, were 
in the most embarrassed condition ; and the people, irritated 
by the tyrannical conduct of the late sovereign, were now 
more than ever alive to their rights. 

7. One of the first measures of the new king was, to remove 
from office those who, by their misconduct, had become un- 
popular, and had contributed to the distresses of the kingdom, 
and to replace them by men of talents and integrity. Turgot 
was placed at the head of the finances, and Malesherbes was 
made Minister of the Interior. These enlightened statesmen 
attempted useful reforms, which offended the courtiers and 
privileged orders ; and, after a short ministry, they retired 
from office. 

8. The celebrated Necker, a Protestant of Geneva, and a 
banker, succeeded Turgot, and pursued the system of economy 
and reform ; but, becoming unpopular with the courtiers, he 
was displaced. The important office of the general control of 
the finances had now become exceedingly difficult to fill. Two 
financiers having attempted, without success, to supply the place 
of Necker, the office was given, in 1783, to Calonne, who 
abandoned reforms, and made a boast of prodigality. 

9. War between Great Britain and the American Colonies 
having broken out, many Frenchmen, among whom were the 
Marquis de Lafayette, and other officers and engineers, cross- 
ed the Atlantic to aid the Americans ; and France soon after 
declared war against England. On the return of peace, in 
1783, the difficulties increased ; the enormous public expenses 
had brought the finances into the most embarrassed condition, 
and the government was reduced to a stand for want of supplies. 

10. Various causes had been, for some time, at work to pro- 



154 FRANCE. 

duce a revolution in France, which was now about to burst 
forth, and convulse not only that country, but the whole civil- 
ized world. Some of the principal of these causes were, the 
progress of philosophy, the diffusion of information, and the 
freedom of thinking on subjects of government and religion ; 
the notions and feelings in favor of liberty excited by the 
American revolution, and disseminated by the return of the 
French officers and army from the United States ; the preva- 
lence of infidelity among the literary classes ; the despotism 
of the government, and the abuses both of the ecclesiastical 
and political establishments ; the odious privileges of the no- 
bility and clergy, especially their exemption from taxes ; the 
desire of the nobility to regain those privileges of which they 
had been stripped by the crown ; and the discontent of the 
mass of the people on account of their oppressed condition, 
being the despised portion of the state, yet bearing all its bur- 
dens. All these circumstances had an influence in preparing 
the way for this great event ; yet the more immediate cause 
of the revolution was the derangement of the finances. 

11. All plans for restoring the finances to order having 
proved ineffectual, Louis, by the advice of Calonne, convoked, 
in 1787, an assembly of the Notables, a body consisting of 
persons selected by the king, chiefly from the higher orders 
of the state. To this assembly it was proposed to levy a land- 
tax, proportioned to property, without any exception in favor 
of the nobility or clergy ; but being little inclined to make 
sacrifices, they refused to sanction the measure. 

12. Calonne, finding it impossible any longer to maintain his 
ground, resigned his office, and was succeeded by Brienne, 
Archbishop of Toulouse. But the assembly of Notables still 
continuing unmanageable and parsimonious, recourse was then 
had to the Parliament of Paris, but without success, and a con- 
vocation of the States- General was demanded. This body, 
which was composed of three orders, nobility, clergy, and the 
third estate, or commons, had not been assembled since 1614 ; 
and it never had a regular existence. 

13. Necker was again recalled to power ; and a second as- 
sembly of the Notables was convoked, in order to determine 
the form and composition of the States-General. Necker pro- 
posed that the deputies of the commons should equal, in num- 
ber, those of the other two orders united ; but the Notables re- 
fused to concur in the measure. It was, however, sanctioned 
by the king, and carried into effect. The commons chose able 
men ; and on the 5th of May, 1789, the assembly of the States- 
General was opened at Versailles. This body carried forward 
a revolution, which was now effectually commenced. 



FRANCE. 155 

14. The king addressed the States-General in a conciliatory 
speech, no longer using the language of a sovereign who ex- 
pected implicit obedience to his will. But difficulties soon 
arose respecting the manner in which questions should be 
decided, whether by a majority of orders or of polls, and 
whether there should be a separation or union of the three 
branches. 

15. At length the deputies of the third estate, or commons, 
with such deputies of the nobility and clergy as were dis- 
posed to unite with them, on the motion of the Abbe Sieyes, 
declared themselves the supreme legislative body, under the 
title of the National Assembly, a body " one and indivisible." 
Of this assembly Bailly was chosen the president, and Mira- 
beau, a man of brilliant talents and great eloquence, was the 
popular leader. The Duke of Orleans, a descendant of Louis 
XIII. , and the father of Louis Philippe, ex-king of the French, 
noted for his immense wealth and profligacy, was also a promi- 
nent member. 

16. The first decree of the National Assembly was an act 
of sovereignty ; and by proclaiming the indivisibility of the 
legislative power, it placed under its dependence the privileged 
orders. Thus Louis found that his authority was, in a great 
measure, wrested from him ; and the great body of the nobility 
and clergy, by their refusal to unite with the commons, like- 
wise saw themselves shut out from power, and their privileges 
invaded. 

17. During the irritated state of the public mind, the king 
again dismissed Necker from office. This unpopular measure 
was the signal for insurrection in Paris, which was soon in a 
state of violent commotion. The Bastile, a huge state prison, 
was demolished by the populace ; other excesses were com- 
mitted in the city and elsewhere, by the furious rabble, and by 
mobs of frantic women of the vilest character. The army 
united with the people ; the nobles emigrated for safety, and 
for foreign aid ; the king, queen, and royal family, were 
forced, on the 6th of October, from Versailles to the capital 
by the ungovernable mob ; but were protected from violence 
by the influence and efforts of Lafayette, who commanded the 
National Guard. In consequence of this removal, the Assembly 
adjourned its sittings to Paris. 

18. The progress of the revolution was rapid, and produced 
the most important consequences. The seat of power was 
changed, and all the preliminary alterations were effected. 
The three orders were discontinued ; the States-General con- 
verted into the Assembly of the nation ; the royal authority 
nearly annihilated ; the privileges of the nobles and clergy, 



156 FRANCE. 

and the feudal system, in all its branches, abolished ; religious 
liberty and the freedom of the press established ; the church 
lands confiscated ; the monasteries suppressed ; and France 
was divided into 83 departments. 

19. After these measures were accomplished, the great de- 
sign of the National Assembly was the formation of a consti- 
tution, and from this circumstance it is denominated the Con- 
stituent Assembly. While engaged in its deliberations, Louis 
and his family, finding their situation uncomfortable, escaped 
from Paris, but were stopped on the frontiers of the kingdom, 
and brought back. A constitution, which established limited 
monarchy, and the equality of all ranks, was at length com- 
pleted, and accepted by the king, and the assembly dissolved 
itself on the 30th of September, 1791. 

20. The next assembly, styled the Legislative Assembly, 
met on the first of October, and was composed wholly of new 
members, as the members of the Constituent Assembly were, 
by their own act, excluded from holding seats in it. Soon 
after the commencement of the revolution, various political 
clubs were formed in Paris, of which the Jacobin club (so 
called from its meeting in a convent of suppressed Jacobin 
monks) was the most prominent, and insensibly absorbed all 
the rest ; and, for a time, this factious association governed the 
capital, and controlled the Assembly. 

21. On the 21st of September, 1792, a new body, styled 
the National Convention, commenced their deliberations ; and, 
at their first sitting, they abolished the regal government, and 
declared France a republic. The king was arraigned at their 
bar to answer to various charges ; he appeared before them 
with a firm and manly countenance, and looked round upon 
the assembly with an air of resolution. 

22. Deseze, one of the defenders of the king, ended his 
speech with these words : " Listen to History, who will say to 
Fame, — Louis, who ascended the throne at the age of twenty, 
carried with him there an example of morals, of justice, and 
of economy : he had no weaknesses, no corrupting passions, 
and he was the constant friend of his people. The people de- 
sired that a disastrous impost should be abolished, and Louis 
abolished it ; the people asked for the destruction of servitudes, 
and Louis destroyed them ; they demanded reforms, he con- 
sented to them ; they wished to change the laws by which they 
were governed, he agreed to their wish ; the people required 
that several millions of Frenchmen should recover their rights, 
and these he restored to them ; the people asked for liberty, 
and he gave it. No one can dispute that Louis had the glory 
of anticipating the demands of his people by making these 



FRANCE. 157 

sacrifices ; and it is he whom it has been proposed to.... Citi- 
zens, I cannot go on ; I pause in the presence of History : re- 
member that History will judge your judgment, and that her 
decision will be that of ages to come." 

23. But the passions of the Convention were deaf and un- 
moved ; and the sentence of death was pronounced by a 
majority of 26 out of 721 voters. The king was carried to 
the place of execution, and mounted the ladder of the scaffold 
with a firm step. " I die innocent," said he ; "I forgive my 
enemies ; and you, unfortunate people...." At this moment, 
the noise of the drums drowned his voice ; the executioners 
seized him ; and the axe of the guillotine separated his head 
from his body, on the 21st of January, 1793. Thus perished, 
at the age of thirty-nine, and after a most disastrous reign of 
eighteen years and a half, this well-disposed, but most unfortu- 
nate monarch. 



SECTION VII. 

Tne Revolution continued : — Robespierre ; Bonaparte ; Euro- 
pean War : Bonaparte dethroned, and the Bourbon Family 
restored. — From A. D. 1793 to 1815. 

1. In 1793, the constitution of the republic was completed 
by the Convention ; the executive power was lodged in a Com- 
mittee of Public Safety ; and the revolutionary tribunal was 
erected under Robespierre and his associates, whose bloody 
domination is styled " the reign of terror.'''' Two factions 
soon arose in the National Convention, one styled the Mountain 
party, from their occupying the most elevated seats in the hall 
of the Convention, — these were the most violent revolution- 
ists and advocates for the extreme of democracy ; the other 
named Girondists, because some of their leaders were from 
the department of the Gironde, — these were more moderate, 
and more distinguished for love of order and equity. The 
leaders of the former were Robespierre, Danton, and Marat, 
men almost unparalleled in depravity and cruelty : of the lat- 
ter, the leaders were Brissot, Vergniaud, and Condorcet. 

2. The Mountain party, having gained the ascendency over 
their opponents, were instrumental in causing the most horrid 
massacres. They condemned and executed the Queen An- 
toinette, and guillotined Brissot, Vergniaud, and 20 others of 
the Girondists. That monster of vice, the Duke of Orleans, 
suffered the same fate from the hands of the very party that 

14 



158 FRANCE. 

he had materially contributed to bring forward to serve his own 
purposes. 

3. The Convention abandoned themselves to the most ex- 
travagant excesses : on the motion of Gobet, Archbishop of 
Paris, they suppressed the Christian religion; passed a de- 
cree that the only French deities hereafter should be Liberty, 
Equality, and Reason ; established a republican calendar ; 
abolished the Sabbath, and, instead of it, made every 10th day 
a day of rest. The churches were plundered of their gold 
and silver; and even their bells were melted and cast into 
cannon. 

4. The Convention was at length divided anew into two 
most violent parties ; Robespierre at the head of one, and 
Danton of the other. Robespierre triumphed, and all his most 
active opponents were guillotined ; but his own fate soon fol- 
lowed, being condemned and executed on a charge of tyranny, 
in July, 1794. The Jacobins were soon after suppressed by 
the Convention; and, during the next year (1795), the third 
constitution was proclaimed, the executive power being vested 
in Jive directors. — From 1791 to 1799, four different consti- 
tutions were formed. By the 4th, adopted in 1799, the execu- 
tive power was vested in three consuls, of whom Bonaparte 
was elected to be first, Cambaceres the second, and Le Brun 
the third ; and, in 1802, these three were appointed consuls 
for life. 

5. The French revolution was at first political, as directed 
against the absolute power of the court and the privileges of 
the higher classes ; but it afterwards became military, because 
Europe attacked it. The European sovereigns, fearful of its 
consequences in their respective dominions, attempted to put 
it down ; but, on the contrary, they extended its sphere. It 
was destined in its progress to work a change in the politics of 
Europe, by terminating the struggle of the kings with each 
other, and beginning one between the kings and the people ; 
and in its final result, it diminished the power of the sovereigns 
and the privileges of the nobility and clergy, and promoted the 
liberty of the people and the advancement of civilization. 

6. Before the execution of the king, many of the clergy and 
nobility, together with multitudes of persons, attached to the 
ancient order of things, had fled from France, through fear of 
personal danger, and to solicit foreign aid. A powerful body 
was thus collected on the frontiers, who were assisted by the 
surrounding nations, especially the Prussians and Austrians, 
in their efforts to reestablish royalty and tranquillity. This 
was the origin ( 1792) of the First of that series of Coalitions 
against France, into which nearly all the powers of Europe 



FRANCE. 159 

successively entered. On the death of the king, Great Britain 
and Holland, and soon afterwards Russia and Spain also, de- 
clared war against France. 

7. The invading army was commanded by the Duke of 
Brunswick, who injudiciously published a threatening mani- 
festo, the effect of which was to irritate the revolutionists into 
greater violences, to hasten the execution of the king, and to 
unite all parties in the defence of the country. 

8. The combined invasion under the Duke of Brunswick 
was completely overthrown. France in her turn became the 
assailant, and her army under Dumouriez conquered the 
Netherlands in the autumn of 1792 ; and afterwards Holland, 
Switzerland, and a part of Germany, yielded to her arms. 
The republic, having made peace with several of the German 
princes, turned her views towards Italy ; and the command of 
the army was (1796.) given to Napoleon Bonaparte, then a 
young man in the 27th year of his age, who had previously 
distinguished himself at the siege of Toulon. By a series of 
rapid victories, this extraordinary man retrieved the affairs of 
France, and obliged the Austrians to sign, in 1797, the treaty 
of Campo Formio, by which the conquests of the French in 
the Netherlands were confirmed, and the Milanese ceded to 
the new Cisalpine Republic ; whilst the Venetian territories 
were given up to Austria. 

9. The Second Coalition was formed after the defeat of the 
French fleet, in 1798, by that of the English, under Nelson, in 
the bay of Aboukir, off the mouth of the Nile. Before this 
event, Bonaparte had invaded Egypt, defeated the Mamelukes 
in the battle o£ the Pyramids, and taken possession of Cairo 
and all the Delta. 

10. In the campaign of 1799, the French were very unfor- 
tunate ; the Austrians, under the Archduke Charles, and the 
Russians, under Suwarrow, gained a number of important vic- 
tories in the north of Italy, in Switzerland, and in Germany : 
by their united forces, the very frontiers of France were 
threatened ; whilst the ill conduct of the Directory at home 
brought the country to the brink of ruin. At this crisis, Bona-' 
parte, who had proceeded from Egypt to Syria, and taken 
Jaffa, returned to Paris, and, by the aid of Fouche, Cambaceres, 
Talleyrand, Lucien Bonaparte, and Sieyes, together with a 
military force, he abolished the Directory, framed a new con- 
stitution, and caused himself to be elected, in 1799, First Consul. 

11. From this moment, the affairs of the republic took a 
new turn. By his activity and energy, Bonaparte overcame 
the intrigues of all his rivals, introduced a new order of things 
in the different departments of state, suppressed the various 



160 FRANCE. 

factions that had long raged in the empire, and, by the ref- 
ormation of many abuses, restored order and tranquillity to the 
government. 

12. After this, he put himself at the head of the army, and, 
having effected the celebrated passage of the Alps, defeated 
( 1800) the Austrians under Melas, in the memorable battle of 
Marengo, which decided the fate of Italy. This victory, to- 
gether with the defeat of the Austrians, soon afterwards, at 
Hohenlinden, by the French under Moreau, and other suc- 
cesses, led the way to the peace of Luneville with Austria and 
the German empire (1801), and afterwards to the peace of 
Amiens with England (1802). Thus Europe, for the first time 
since the late revolution, enjoyed the blessings of universal peace. 

13. The limits of France were now greatly enlarged, and 
Bonaparte, as First Consul, exercised an absolute sway over 
almost all the continent of Europe west of the Adriatic and 
the Rhine. Soon after the establishment of peace, he restored 
the Catholic religion, concluded a concordat or convention with 
the Pope, granted toleration to all religions, and instituted the 
Legion of Honor. 

14. He was next elected First Consul for life, with supreme 
power ; but a conspiracy was now formed against him, in 
which Moreau, Pichegru, Georges, and other eminent men, 
were accused of participating. Moreau was banished to 
America ; Pichegru was strangled ; Georges, and 1 1 others, 
were guillotined ; and the Duke d^Enghien was shot without 
trial. — In 1804, Bonaparte was proclaimed Emperor of France, 
and was crowned by the Pope : the next year, he assumed also 
the title of King of Italy. 

15. The peace of Amiens was of short duration. In 1803, 
the war was renewed between France and England : Bona- 
parte seized Hanover, and threatened to invade the British 
isles ; and in 1805, the Third Coalition was formed by Eng- 
land, Austria, Russia, Sweden, and afterwards Prussia. The 
emperor immediately put himself at the head of the French 
army ;, carried his rapid and victorious arms to Vim, where he 
captured the Austrian army of 33,000 men under Mack ; and, 
in the memorable battle of Austerlitz (1805), defeated the 
united forces of Russia and Austria, — at which battle the three 
emperors were present. This great victory terminated the 
campaign, and brought about the peace of Preshufg, by which 
Austria ceded to the French the Venetian territories, and sub- 
mitted to other humiliating conditions. 

16. A few weeks before the battle of Austerlitz, the English 
fleet, under Lord Nelson, gained a great victory off Cape Tra- 
falgar, over the combined fleets of France and Spain. The 



FRANCE. 161 

English captured 19 ships of the line, but lost their great ad- 
miral, who was slain in the action. 

17. The King of Naples having permitted a British and Rus- 
sian army to land in his dominions, the Emperor of France 
deposed the Neapolitan dynasty, and raised his brother Joseph, 
to the throne ; he also compelled the Dutch to receive his 
brother, Louis, as King of Holland. He next subverted the 
constitution of the German empire, and formed a union of 
several states, under the title of " The Confederation of the 
Rhine" of which he was chosen protector. Francis II. sol- 
emnly resigned (1806) his title as " Emperor of Germany and 
King of the Romans," and retained the title which he had as- 
sumed in 1804, namely, that of hereditary Emperor of Aus- 
tria. The electors of Bavaria, Wurtemberg, and Saxony 
joined the Confederation, and were raised, by Bonaparte, to 
the rank of kings. 

18. The vast accession of power acquired by this alliance 
was the cause of new jealousies, and hastened the Fourth 
Coalition, formed in 1806, by which Prussia, Russia, Austria, 
Sweden, and England were united in the war against France. 
Hostilities were commenced by the Prussians, without waiting 
for the aid of Russia ; but Bonaparte, with his usual good for- 
tune, gained over them the great battles of Jena and Auer- 
stadt, entered the capital of Prussia as a conqueror, and here 
commenced the " Continental System " against English com- 
merce, by issuing the Berlin Decree, declaring the British 
islands in a state of blockade, and ordering all ports to be shut 
against them. The French army penetrated into Poland, and 
gained an advantage over the Russians, in the hard-fought bat- 
tle of Pultusk (1806). 

19. The following year (1807), Bonaparte fought with the 
Russians the indecisive battle of Eylau ; defeated them at 
Friedland ; and, having gained possession of Dantzic and 
Konigsberg, concluded the peace of Tilsit. Separate treaties 
were made with Russia and Prussia : the former gained a small 
acquisition of territory ; but the dominions of the latter were 
reduced almost one half ; both agreed to shut their ports against 
England, and thus became parties in the French emperor's 
favorite object of excluding British commerce from the conti- 
nent. The provinces conquered from Prussia were erected 
into the new kingdom of Westphalia, of which Jerome Bona- 
parte was acknowledged king. 

20. The English government, in retaliation of Bonaparte's 
Berlin Decree, issued their Orders in Council, by which all 
neutral vessels trading with France were compelled to stop at 
a British port and pay a duty. After the peace of Tilsit, the 

14 * 



162 FRANCE. 

emperor proceeded to Italy ; and at Milan, in consequence of 
the Orders in Council, he issued (1807) his Milan Decree, by 
which every vessel which submitted to British search, or con- 
sented to any pecuniary exactions whatever, was confiscated. 

21. Elated by his astonishing successes, the Emperor of 
France appeared now (1808) to consider himself as sovereign 
of Europe, and to set at defiance all principles of justice and 
moderation. Being ambitious of appropriating more of the 
thrones of Europe to his brothers and relatives, he next fixed 
his attention on Spain and Portugal ; and so decisive was he 
in the execution of his plans, that, in a short time, the royal 
family of Portugal emigrated to Brazil. 

22. Though Charles IV., King of Spain, had shown himself 
subservient to the views of the French emperor, yet the latter 
was not content, but compelled the Spanish monarch to resign 
his crown in favor of his brother, Joseph Bonaparte, whom he 
removed from Naples, and caused to be proclaimed King of 
Spain ; and he raised to the throne of Naples Murat, who had 
married his sister. 

23. The Spaniards rose in opposition to this tyrannical 
measure, and, in this emergency, had recourse to England, 
who readily afforded her assistance. The war which was thus 
excited in the peninsula continued to rage from 1808 to 1813 ; 
and, in a series of engagements, the forces of England and 
Spain, under the command of Wellington and others, were, in 
most instances, victorious over the armies of France. Some 
of the principal exploits in this war were the desperate, but in- 
effectual, defence of Saragossa, by Palafox, and the victories 
of Wellington at Talavera, Salamanca, and Vittoria. 

24. In 1809, while the war was raging in Spain, hostilities 
again broke out between France and Austria, which were pros- 
ecuted by Bonaparte with his usual success. Having gained 
advantages over the Austrians at Abensberg, Eckmuhl, and 
Ratisbon, he entered Vienna ; afterwards fought, against the 
Archduke Charles, the indecisive battle of Aspern or Essling, 
and entirely defeated him at Wagram. 

25. This war was terminated (1809) by the treaty of Vienna 
or Schoenbrunn, by which Francis II, the Emperor of Austria, 
was compelled to submit to considerable losses of territory, to 
accede to the " continental system," and, what was more mi' 
miliating, to promise his daughter, Maria Louisa, in marriage 
to his great and victorious enemy. In consequence of this 
treaty, Bonaparte was divorced from his empress Josephine, 
and his marriage with the emperor's daughter was solemnized 
April 1, 1810 ; and he thus became allied to the imperial 
house of Austria. 



FRANCE. 163 

26. By the treaty of Tilsit, Alexander, the Emperor of Rus- 
sia, had acceded to Bonaparte's " continental system" against 
England, by agreeing to exclude British goods from his do- 
minions ; but the consequences of this measure were extreme- 
ly injurious to his subjects, and ruinous to his finances. The 
year (1811) was spent in negotiations and discussions ; but as 
they did not promise an amicable adjustment, both parties pre- 
pared for war. Early in the spring of 1812, Bonaparte col- 
lected, in Poland, an immense army, consisting of 400,000 
infantry, 60,000 cavalry, and 1,200 pieces of artillery; and 
on the 24th of June, crossing the Niemen, he invaded the Rus- 
sian territories. 

27. His march was directed towards Moscoiv, the ancient 
capital of the empire, and was everywhere marked with deso- 
lation and blood. He defeated the Russians at Smolensk ; 
fought the tremendous battle of Borodino, or Moskwa, in 
which nearly 30,000 men fell on each side ; proceeded after- 
wards to Moscow, which he found enveloped in flames, and 
abandoned by the inhabitants. The city had been set on fire 
by the Russians, in order to prevent the French from deriving 
any advantage from possessing it ; and nearly three-fourths of 
it were consumed before the conflagration ceased. 

28. This extraordinary transaction was the cause of the 
greatest mortification and disappointment to Bonaparte. He 
had imagined that, after obtaining possession of Moscow, he 
should become the arbiter of the whole Russian empire, and 
be able to prescribe to it such a peace as he should think 
proper. But his good fortune had now forsaken him ; and 
finding himself thwarted in this object, the Russian generals 
concentrating their forces around him, and the horrors of a 
Russian winter approaching, he thought it most prudent to 
evacuate the city, and retreat towards the frontiers. 

29. Then followed, amidst the solitudes and snows of Rus- 
sia, in consequence of cold and famine, a series of disasters, 
losses, and sufferings, which are scarcely paralleled in history, 
and which issued in the almost entire destruction of the invad- 
ing army. About 30,000 horses perished by the severity of 
the weather in a single day ; all the pieces of cannon were 
lost ; and only about 30,000 men remained to recross the 
Niemen. 

30. After the remnant of the French army had effected the 
disastrous passage of the Berezina, near the frontiers of Rus- 
sia, the emperor quitted it, and fled, in disguise, through Po- 
land and Germany, to Paris. He resolved to hazard another 
campaign, and raised (1813) a fresh army of 350,000 men; 
but he was now opposed by the Fifth Coalition, consisting of 



164 FRANCE. 

Russia, Prussia, Austria, some of the confederates of the 
Rhine, and Sweden, subsidized by England. 

31. Bonaparte again put himself at the head of his army; 
was worsted by the Allies in the battle of Lutzen ; defeated 
them in the battle of Bautzen ; repulsed them at Dresden, 
where Moreau was slain ; but was utterly routed in the tre- 
mendous battle of Leipsic (Oct. 1813), with the loss of 40,000 
men in killed, wounded, and prisoners. The combatants, in 
this action, called the " Battle of Nations," exceeded 400,000 ; 
a greater number than has been engaged in any other battle in 
modern times. 

32. Bonaparte made his escape from the scene of his de- 
feat, and proceeded to Paris. In his address to the senate, he 
frankly acknowledged his disasters. " All Europe," said he, 
" was with us a year ago, — all Europe is now against us." 
Having attempted in vain to rouse the French people, he again 
joined his army. In the mean time, the Allies had crossed the 
Rhine, and penetrating, after a desperate struggle, into the 
heart of France, they entered Paris. 

33. The situation of Bonaparte -having now become hope- 
less, he abdicated the throne of France, and, after various de- 
liberations, the island of Elba was fixed upon for his future 
residence ; but he was allowed to retain the title of emperor. 
The mighty empire which he had raised was suddenly crum- 
bled to the dust; and Louis XV1IL was restored (1814) to 
the throne of his ancestors. 

34. A General Congress of European sovereigns was im- 
mediately assembled at Vienna, to arrange and settle the affairs 
of Europe, with a view to restore, yet with many variations, 
the ancient order of things. But while the sovereigns were 
deliberating on these matters, Bonaparte, dissatisfied with his 
situation, made another effort to regain the throne of France. 
Landing at Frejus, he marched with 1140 men, without op- 
position, through the country ; presented himself in an open 
carriage to the royal army at Melun ; was received with shouts 
of applause ; the same evening, entered Paris in triumph, 
amidst the loudest acclamations ; was proclaimed emperor ; 
and Louis XVIII. fled, on his approach, to the frontiers. 
This progress of the exiled emperor through France, which 
was one of the most extraordinary exploits that he ever per- 
formed, is without a parallel in history, and evinces, in the 
most striking manner, his ascendency over the French nation. 
In 20 days from his landing at Frejus, he found himself quietly 
seated on the throne, without having spilled a drop of blood. 

35. Aware that he had not returned to his former power, he 
therefore, in order to strengthen his authority, issued some 



FRANCE. 165 

popular decrfr?. e stablishing the freedom of the press, abol- 
ishing the save trade, and : _ ting the taxes which weighed 
ihosi heavily on the people : he also condescended to offer 
them the plan of a constitutk ry different from the system 
of desf rtistn upon which he had before acted, and containing 
many excellent regulations, 

\ He had, however, but little time for legislative meas- 
ures. As soon as his arrival in France was known at Vienna, 
he was declared by the Congress a traitor and an outi: 
and a new and formidable coalition was immediately formed 
_ insl him among the European powers. He placed himself 
ance more at the head of a large army, but was entirely de- 
the Allies under the command of Wellington and 
I .in the memorable bar. e :: Waterloo^ which ::~: the 

nch army upwards of 40,000 men in killed and wounded. 

37. This battle sealed the fate of Bonaparte. He returned 

r 7 :: Paris, abdicated the throne in favor of his son, 
and afterwards surrendered hi m self to Captain Maiiland, of 
the Bellerophon, claiming, in a letter to the Prince Regent of 
England, an asylum, "like Themistocles, among the most 
powerful, most constant, and most generous of his enemies.'" 
I the imanimois igieement of the allied sovereigns, he was 
sent a prisoner to St. Helena^ where he arrived on the 17th of 
ber, 1815 : and there died on the 5th of May. 1*21. ... 
Ins captivity, and 5'2d of his age. 

38. The career of Bonaparte surpassed, in many respects, 
that of every zreat conqueror who preceded him. No other 
man has appeared on the theatre of the world, who has been 
the cause of so many and so astonishing revolutions, or whose 
: : temporary fame has been so widely extended. In his 27th 

he wa 5 : lise i I : the chief comma nd of the French army ; 

Tt : f 30, he caused himself to be electa 3 r::~: .: 

and in bis year, he was proclaimed Emperor of France. 

I . :. .1 :.t ■ " --."-_ e . .; 1 assessed lie :;.. eiiai ihrcie. he 

a the most powerful potentate, not only of the age, hut of 

"... :s : n: i: ...". : : : "... -:- . . a -: ... : _e :~ :_.-: :e: . 

: : his i:ne. 

39. He may be emphatically called a king-maker ; for he 
is-: i :: :he rink ::" kiars naee :r:±.ers. ::t ::: iier-i i-ia . 

and three German eir: tors ; Bernadotte, als:. ::: ::" Ins mar- 
shais. as raise a :: lie iaa:ie ::" 5~ riri. Tl~ ias: :'": 11 ' ~ere 
re: :riize 1. :y ne Lkirress :: Vienna. m:ig "..1 .er::aiia:e 
5: ::t~is :: I::::i 

40. He united in his own person, at an early period of his 
life, and in an advanced state of society, the conqueror, the 
usurper, and the lawgiver. He triumphed over civilized en- 



• 



166 FRANCE. 

emies ; legislated in a refined age ; and seized upon the scep- 
tre of a powerful and enlightened people, among powerful and 
enlightened rivals. To him France is indebted for an admi- 
rable code of laws, in the formation of which he was an effi- 
cient agent, in which he greatly prided himself, and with 
regard to which he was repeatedly heard to say, he " could 
wish to be buried with it in his hands." 

41. He favored, in many instances, liberal principles ; pat- 
ronized merit independent of rank ; encouraged liberally such 
branches of science as were useful to his purposes ; granted 
religious toleration ; removed or diminished many abuses ; 
broke down oppressive feudal and ecclesiastical institutions 
and establishments ; and left France, and also Europe, in 
many respects, in a better condition than he found them. But 
though he was not more unprincipled than other great con- 
querors have been, yet his ruling passion was evidently insatia- 
ble ambition and lust of power, to which he was ready to sac- 
rifice every principle of justice and humanity. No man ever 
enjoyed a greater opportunity of benefiting his species than he ; 
but this opportunity he cast away, except so far as it suited his 
own purposes of self-aggrandizement. He chose to be an 
Alexander or a Csesar, rather than a Washington ; a subverter, 
rather than a protector, of liberty ; a terror and a scourge, 
rather than a delight and a blessing, to mankind. 

42. He exercised over his own dominions a military des- 
potism : his ambition prompted him to sacrifice, without scru- 
ple, the rights and independence of nations, and rendered him 
an enemy to freedom, and to the repose of the world. It was 
not, therefore, without reason, that the friends of liberty, of 
peace, and of human improvement, exulted at his downfall. 
His eventful life, and his miserable end, furnish a most in- 
structive lesson on the instability of human affairs, and the 
vanity of human glory. 



SECTION VIII. 

Louis XVIII. ; Charles X. : — Revolution of 1830; Louis 

Philippe : — Revolution of 1848 ; Republican Constitution ; 
Louis Napoleon, President. 

1. After the second dethronement of Bonaparte, Louis 
XVIII. was again (1815) placed on the throne, and a second 
pacification took place at Paris. France was reduced to nearly 
the same limits as before the revolution ; she was compelled 
to restore much of the plunder which had been collected at 



FRANCE. 167 

Paris, to pay ,£28,000,000 sterling, as a partial indemnification 
for the expenses of the war, and to maintain, for five years, an 
army of occupation, consisting of 150,000 allied troops, to 
be placed in 16 frontier fortresses. In 1817, the Allies con- 
sented to reduce the army of occupation to one fifth ; and in 
1818, it was wholly withdrawn. — Those officers who, in spite 
of their oaths to Louis, had sided with Bonaparte in his attempt 
to reascend the throne of France, were tried for treason and 
condemned : some of them, among whom was Marshal Ney, 
were shot ; and others were exiled. 

2. Louis XVIII., who was a man of cultivated mind and 
liberal views, found his situation a difficult one, on account of 
the conflicts of different political parties, the ultra-royalists, 
Bonapartists, and liberals ; and his policy was somewhat vari- 
able, though the ultra-royalist party, for the most part, had the 
ascendency. One of the principal events during his reign was, 
in concert with the northern powers of Europe (1823), an in- 
vasion of Spain, by a French army, under the Duke aVAngou- 
leme, by means of which Ferdinand VII. was released from 
his thraldom, and restored to the plenitude of his power ; and 
the designs of the Constitutionalists of that country, for estab- 
lishing a more liberal system of government, were frustrated. 

3. Louis XVIII. was succeeded, in 1824, by his brother, 
Count d'Artois, who assumed the title of Charles X, and who 
was much inferior to Louis in talent, and in the liberality of 
his political views. Charles seems to have learnt little wis- 
dom from the troubles which the Bourbon family had experi- 
enced ; and he ascended the throne imbued with the exploded 
dogmas of a preceding age. His course of life had been very 
licentious ; but, before he came to the throne, his morals were 
much improved ; and he had become, and so continued as long 
as he lived, much under the influence of priests. 

4. His reign was signalized by two enterprises of foreign 
war of some importance : one in favor of the Greeks, in which 
France united with England and Russia ; the other against 
Algiers, which city, after a siege of six days, surrendered to 
the French army, on the 5th of July, 1830. 

5. The contests between the different political parties, which 
had agitated the preceding reign, continued and became more 
violent in this. Charles sided strongly with the ultra-royalists, 
and promoted men of that party to the highest offices ; and the 
government endeavored, in various ways, to check the rising 
spirit of liberty, by exerting an influence on the elections, by dis- 
solving the chambers, and by restraining the liberty of the press. 

6. In March, 1830, the Chamber of Deputies made a strong 
stand against the ministry, of which Prince Polignac was the 



168 FRANCE. 

head ; and, in consequence of this, the chamber was dissolved 
by the king ; new elections were ordered, and the two cham- 
bers were convoked for the 3d of August. The elections 
followed ; and it was soon found that the liberal party had se- 
cured a large majority. In consequence of this result, the 
ministers made a report to the king, which was published on 
the 26th of July, accompanied by three ordinances : one dis- 
solving the Chamber of Deputies, another suspending the liberty 
of the press, and a third altering the law of election. 

7. All the liberal newspapers in Paris were suppressed ; the 
bank refused to discount bills ; the manufacturers discharged 
their workmen ; and Paris was in a state of great commotion. 
On the morning of the 27th, the newspapers appeared as 
usual ; and the seizure of the presses, and the imprisonment 
of the editors, were signals for revolution. 

8. The citizens immediately took up arms against the gov- 
ernment, and on the 29th, after a contest of three days, having 
obtained a complete victory over the king's guards, the liberal 
deputies, who had assembled in Paris, appointed General La- 
fayette commander-in-chief of the National Guards. The two 
chambers met on the 3d of August ; and the Chamber of Depu- 
ties, on the 6th, declared the throne of France to be vacant, 
adopted the new-modelled charter, and voted, on the 7th, to 
invite the Duke of Orleans to become King of the French. 
The Duke accepted the crown on the 8th, and took the pre- 
scribed oath on the 9th. 

9. Charles had already fled from Paris. He soon went to 
England, thence to Edinburgh, and resided for some time at 
Holyrood House. He afterwards proceeded to Austria, and 
died at Goritz, in Illyria, on the 4th of November, 1836, in the 
80th year of his age. 

10. Louis Philippe — (the son of the Duke of Orleans, who 
made himself infamous as the associate and dupe of the 
Jacobin party in the first French revolution, and who re- 
nounced his family name, and assumed that of Egalite) — 
was raised to the throne by the enemies of despotism and 
friends of liberty and constitutional government. The authors 
of this revolutionary movement cherished the expectation that 
he would carry out their political principles ; but in this they 
were much disappointed. Pie proved himself to be a man of 
eminent ability, had able men for his ministers, among whom 
may be named Perier, Gerard, Mole, Thiers, Soult, and Gui- 
zot ; and he always exerted a strong personal influence in di- 
recting the measures of the government. 

11. His policy in relation to foreign states was pacific ; and 
the condition of France was greatly improved, during his reign, 



FRANCE. 169 

with respect to education, agriculture, commerce, and manu- 
factures ; also by internal improvement, particularly by exten- 
sive lines of railroad, which connect the capital with different 
parts of the country. The navy was much increased ; and the 
city of Paris was fortified at immense expense, and in a style 
of grandeur unequalled in modern times. Louis Philippe, 
however, did not make himself a popular sovereign, but mani- 
fested more inclination to increase his own power and aggran- 
dize his family, than to gratify the wishes of his subjects or 
increase their political privileges. By his arbitrary measures 
in restraining the liberty of the press and the freedom of dis- 
cussing political affairs, he imitated the example of Charles X., 
and he also shared a similar fate. 

12. The most considerable foreign achievement of the 
French arms, during this reign, was the complete subjugation 
of Algeria, and its establishment as a French colony, which 
was effected after a long and sanguinary struggle with the na- 
tives. The heroic Arab leader, Abdel Kader, surrendered in 
1847. 

13. Although the government of Louis Philippe was con- 
ducted with ability, and the state of the country generally 
prosperous, yet great discontent prevailed among the lower 
classes, particularly in the capital and other large cities. 
These classes were deeply imbued with democratic principles ; 
revolts and conspiracies were frequent ; and no less than 
seven attempts were, during his reign, made upon the life of 
the king. 

14. Care was taken by the government to promote the inter- 
est and to secure the support of the wealthy and privileged 
classes, which possessed the exclusive right of voting at the 
elections ; and these classes upheld the throne, and sanctioned 
a system of excessive taxation, which enabled the king to 
strengthen himself by the maintenance of a numerous army, 
and by the multiplication of lucrative offices, which were be- 
stowed with an especial design of gaining support to the gov- 
ernment. 

15. The system of obtaining a venal support of the govern- 
ment was carried so far as, at length, to disgust all classes. 
The government was loudly charged with corruption in pecu- 
niary matters, and with improper interference in elections. 
Great dissatisfaction was likewise excited by severe laws 
against the press, and against the right of public discussion. 

16. These offensive measures were ascribed to the influence 
of the king himself, rather than to his ministers ; and the im- 
pression gained ground among the people, that it was his inten- 
tion to abridge the liberties of France, and that he cared more 

15 



170 FRANCE. 

for the welfare of his family than for that of the nation, — an 
impression strengthened by the eagerness which he exhibited 
to contract marriages and alliances with the courts which were 
known to be most hostile to the progress of liberal principles. 

17. The popular discontent was much augmented, in 1847, 
by a severe commercial revulsion, which depressed trade, low- 
ered the wages of labor, and rendered almost intolerable the 
heavy taxation, which had been sufficiently oppressive even in 
periods of the greatest prosperity. In that year, the opponents 
of the government began to hold, throughout the kingdom, a se- 
ries of public dinners, or reform, banquets, as they were termed, 
for the purpose of discussion and agitation. At these meet- 
ings, which were numerously attended, speeches were made, 
in which the conduct and measures of the government were 
criticized with great severity. 

18. At length it was resolved to hold a reform banquet in 
Paris, on Sunday, the 20th of February, 1848. The king's 
ministers (Guizot and his colleagues) directed the police to 
prohibit the meeting, on the pretence that it was of a seditious 
nature, and would cause disturbance of the public peace. The 
friends of reform, deeming this prohibition illegal, determined 
to disregard it, though they postponed the banquet till Tuesday, 
the 22d. 

19. On that day, vast crowds of citizens, greatly excited by 
the course of the ministry, assembled in the streets of Paris, 
and were soon engaged in conflict with the military forces 
which had been poured into the city to the number of nearly 
80,000. The people took arms from the shops and houses, 
raised numerous barricades, and attacked the Chamber of 
Deputies and the residence of Guizot, from both of which, 
however, they were repulsed by the troops. 

20. On the two following days, the insurrection became still 
more general. The National Guards refused to act, or joined 
the insurgents, who were everywhere victorious against the 
king's troops, and finally carried by storm the Palais Royal 
and the palace of the Tuileries ; from the latter of which the 
throne was taken in triumph, and publicly burnt in the street. 
The king, after repeated unsuccessful attempts to form an ac- 
ceptable ministry, abdicated in favor of his grandson, the Count 
of Paris, and fled, with the royal family, to England. Guizot, 
the prime minister, also escaped to London. 

21. The revolutionists or insurgents, consisting chiefly of 
the people and workmen of Paris, refused all terms of concili- 
ation or compromise, exclaiming, " It is too late ! " A pro- 
visional government was immediately instituted, consisting of 
the following seven distinguished men : Dupont de L'Eure, 



FRANCE. 171 

Lamartine, Arago, Marie, Gamier Pages, Ledru-Rollin, and 
Cremieux. 

22. The provisional government immediately proclaimed 
France a republic, with the motto, " Liberty, Equality, Fra- 
ternity ! " A decree was issued abolishing all hereditary titles 
and distinctions of rank ; also abolishing slavery in the French 
colonies ; and ordering the election, by universal suffrage, of 
a national assembly of 900 members, to meet in Paris, on the 
4th of May, 1848, to frame a constitution. 

23. The National Assembly met, according to appointment, 
on the 4th of May, and elected an executive committee, hav- 
ing power to appoint a ministry. A ministry was accordingly 
appointed, which assumed, for a time, the direction of the 
government. 

24. In the following month (June) a violent insurrection 
broke out in Paris ; the city was declared in a state of siege ; 
and General Cavaignac was appointed, by the National Assem- 
bly, chief executive or military dictator ; and order was re- 
stored. 

25. After a session of six months, the National Assembly 
proclaimed a constitution of a liberal and democratic charac- 
ter. It provides for the election, by universal suffrage, of a 
president for the term of four years, and of a single legisla- 
tive body, termed the National Assembly, to consist of 750 
members. 

26. An election, under this constitution, was made in De- 
cember, 1848, of a president, when Louis Napoleon was 
chosen by an immense majority, having received about 5,500,- 
000 votes out of about 7,500,000. The President (Charles 
Louis Napoleon Bonaparte) is the nephew of the Emperor 
Napoleon, and the son of Louis, late King of Holland. Pie is 
to hold his office till May, 1852. He has heretofore given little 
evidence to the public of his qualifications for his high office ; 
but has chiefly distinguished himself by two rash and abortive 
attempts to place himself on the throne of Louis Philippe : one 
at Strasburg, in 1836 ; the other at Boulogne, in 1840. After 
the first attempt, he was banished by the government from 
Europe; and after the second, he was imprisoned at Ham; 
but, after being incarcerated five years, he made his escape. 
— Odillon Barrot was appointed prime minister. 

27. The sittings of the National or Constituent Assembly 
were closed on the 26th of May, 1849 ; and a new National 
Assembly commenced a session on the 28th of May. There is 
a want of harmony in the new Assembly, and a large part of the 
members are said to be in favor of monarchy. The elections 
have resulted in a defeat of the party that originally headed the 



172 FRANCE. 

revolution. The government has manifested reactionary ten- 
dencies : several liberal journals have been suppressed ; clubs 
interdicted ; and complaints have been made of interference 
in elections. — Odillon Barrot and his colleagues, having 
failed to satisfy the president, gave place, on the last of Octo- 
ber, 1849, to a new ministry, with General De Hautpoul a* 
its head. 

28. In 1848, a revolution took place at Rome ; the pope, Pius 
iX, was deprived of his temporal power ; a republican govern- 
ment was established ; and the pope fled to Gaeta, in the king- 
dom of Naples. In April, 1849, a French army, commanded 
by General Oudinot, was sent to Italy, and encamped for some 
time at Civita Vecchia. At length, after a severe attack and 
bombardment, Rome surrendered, and the French army enter- 
ed the city on the 3d of July, overthrew the republican govern- 
ment, and prepared the way for the pope to return, reinstated 
in his former power. This act of the new republican govern- 
ment of France, has been strongly condemned. 



FRANCE. 



173 



Chronological Tab 


le of French History. — JVo. 1. 


From Pepin, 752, 


\o the Death of Henry III., 1589. 


A. D. 




Kings. 


X 




700 


— 




















Carlovinsian Race. 




52 Pepin 


16 


Son of Charles Mattel, founds the second ot 


eth 






Carloxingian Race of French king3. 




6; Charlemagne 


45 


The greatest sovereign of the age ;~ founds, in 
800" the Empire of the West. 


800 


— 




— 










14 Louis I. 


26 


The empire divided into three kingdoms. 




40 Charles I. 


37 


Battle of Fontenay ; invasion of the Normans. 




77 Louis II. 


2 


Makes grants to the nobles and bishops. 


9th 


-a Louis III. ) 
' Carloman $ 


c 


Reign jointly. 




54 Charles H. 


4 


The imperial dignity transferred to Germany. 




38 Eudes 


10 






93 Charles EI. 


25 


Invasion of the Normans under Rollo. 


900 


— 




— 










22 Robert 


1 






23 Rodolph 


13 


Defeats the Normans. 




36 Louis IV. 


15 


Surnamed Outremer or Stranger. 


10th 


54 Lothaire 


3^ Hugh the Great, a powerful nobleman. 




36 Louis V. 


1 Governed by Hugh Capet, son of Hugh the Great. 




1 




Capetian Race. 




57 Hueh Capet 


9 Obtains the crown ; founds the Capetian Race. 




&6 Robert 


35 1 A victim of papal tyranny. 


1000 


— 




— 










31 Henry I. 


29 Prevalence of duelling. 


llth 


60; Philip I. 


4: First Crusade ; Peter the Hermit. 


1100 







— 










8|Louis VL 


29 An able and useful sovereign. 


12th 


37, Louis VH 


43 Second Crusade; St. Bernard; Abelard. 




SOjPhilip II. 


43 A powerful sovereign; third Crusade. 


1200 




— 




_ : 






23 Louis Yin. 


3 


Crusade against the Albigenses. 




26 St. Louis LX 


44 


Engages in two Crusades ; dies at Tunis. 


13th 


70 Philip III. 


15 


Massacre of the Sicilian Vespers. 




35 


Philip IV. 


29 


Quarrels with Boniface. Knights Templars. 


1300 


— 




— 










14 


Loui3 X. 


2 






16 


John I. 




Dies an infant four days old. 




16 


Philip V. 


5 


The Salic Law recognized. 




22 


Charles IV. 


6 


Supports his sister Isabella of England. 


liih 








Branch of Valois. 




25 Philip Tl. 


22 


Defeated at Cressy. &c. ; gains Dauphiny. 




50 John II. 


14 Defeated at Poitiers, and taken prisoner. 




64 Charles V. 


16 Recovers the English possessions. Library. 




SOiCharies VI. 


42 Defeated by the English at Agincourt. 


1400 




— 










22 ' Charles VEL 


39 The siege of Orleans raised by Joan of Arc. 




61 Louis XI. 


22 The Tiberius of France ; title Most Christian. 


15th 


33 Charles VUL 


15 Makes an expedition against Naples. 


1500 


95 Louis XTI. 


17 Duke of Orleans ; League of Cambray. 


15 Francis I. 


32 Duke of Angoul&me ; an able sovereign : a pa- 








tron of literature ; at war with Charles V. 




47 1 Henry II. 


12 


Defeated at St. Q.uentin ; recovers Calais. 


\6th 


59 Francis H. 


1 


Husband of Mary. Q,ueen of Scots. 


69 .Charles IX 


14 


Civil Wars commence : Guise, Conde, and 








Coligny ; St. Bartholomew Massacre. 




74 .Henry HI. 


15 


League formed against the Protestants ; the 
kins assassinated by James Clement. 



15 



^* 



174 



FRANCE. 



Chronological Table of French History. — No. 2. 
From Henry IV., 1589, to the Revolution of 1848. 



A. D. 

1500 

16th 

1600 

17th 

1700 



89 



10 



43 



18th 



1800 



19th 



15 



74 



Kings. 



Henry IV. 



Louis XIII. 



Louis XIV. 



Louis XV. 



Louis XVI. 



Napoleon Bonaparte 

Louis XVIII. 
Charles X. 
Louis Philippe 



President. 
48 Louis Napoleon. 



21 



33 



72 



59 



18 



House of Bourbon. 

A great and popular sovereign ; triumphs over 

the League in the battle of Ivry ; renounces 

Protestantism and becomes Catholic ; issues the 

Edict of Nantes : Duke of Sully. 



Mary de Medici regent ; afterwards Cardinal 
Richelieu prime minister : Rochelle taken, 
and the power of the Protestants crushed : 
Revolt of the Duke of Orleans. 

Possessed of talents and unbounded ambition ; 
his reign the longest and the most renowned 
for literature and the arts in French history, 
also distinguished for military achievements ; 
Colbert, Vauban, Turenne, and Condi : the 
canal of Languedoc formed : the Edict of 
Nantes revoked ; 500,000 Protestants exiled. 



10 



10 



18 



Profligate and tyrannical; Mississippi Scheme 
of Law: Pacific administration of Cardinal 
Fleury ; War of the Austrian Succession, end- 
ed by the Peace of Aix-la-Chapelle : War with 
England, and loss of Canada. 

Begins his reign in a time of great difficulty 
and danger ; Turgot, and afterwards Necker, 
ministers : the Americans assisted : the States- 
General convoked ; the National Assembly 
formed; and the Revolution begins, 1789. 

France declared a Republic, 1792 : Louis and 
Queen Antoinette beheaded, 1793: War with 
Prussia, Austria, Great Britain, &c. : Robes- 
pierre ; Reign of Terror. {Louis XVII. dies 
1795.) Bonaparte ; victories at Marengo, &c. ; 
made First Consul, 1799. 



Crowned emperor ; gains the victories of Aus- 
terlitz, Jena, &c, and extends his dominion; 
invades Russia, and gains the battle of Boro- 
dino ; retreats ; defeated at Leipsic ; deposed 
(1814) and sent to Elba ; escapes, and is over- 
thrown at Waterloo (1815) ; sent to St. Helena. 

Restored. Constitutional Charter established : 
Louis displaced by Bonaparte, but again re- 
stored : Invasion of Spain. 

Arbitrary ; Vilele, Martignac, and Polignac, 
successively, ministers : Despotic measures ; 
Revolution ; Charles dethroned. 

Duke of Orleans ; able, but arbitrary : The 
Constitutional Charter remodelled : Algeria an- 
nexed to France : Education and Internal Im- 
provement promoted : Censorship of the Press : 
Reform Banquets prohibited : Revolution : The 
King dethroned: Provisional Government: Re- 
publican Constitution. 

President of the Republic of France ; Odillon 
Barrot Prime Minister ; Expedition against 
Rome. 



The figures on the left hand of the kings, in these tables, denote the commencement 
of their reigns. Thus it appears that Henry IV. began to reign in 1589, and reigned 21 
years. 



ENGLAND. 175 

ENGLAND. 

SECTION I. 

The History of England : The Roman Conquest : The Saxon 
Conquest : The Heptarchy. — From B. C. 55 to A. D. 827. 

1. The history of no country, of either ancient or modern 
times, is richer in various instruction, or calculated to excite 
deeper interest, than that of England. We here see the grad- 
ual rise of a people from a low state of barbarism to the 
highest rank in national power, in the arts both of peace 
and war, in commercial wealth, and intellectual and moral 
greatness. 

2. In England, liberty has maintained frequent and bloody 
conflicts with tyranny. No nation can boast of more ardent 
patriots, of firmer and more enlightened friends to the rights 
and liberties of mankind, or men of higher excellence, or of 
greater intellectual endowments, than are presented to us in 
the eventful pages of English history. 

3. To the citizens of the United States, the history of Eng- 
land is next in importance to that of their own country ; for it 
is, to a majority of them, the history of their own ancestors 
as it is also of the country from which have been derived, in a 
great measure, their language and literature, and their civil 
and religious institutions. 

4. We feel a peculiar interest and sympathy in the conflicts 
which civil and religious liberty has there maintained with des- 
potism and bigotry ; for our ancestors were, more or less, in- 
volved in them ; and the first settlement and early growth of 
our own country were, in a great degree, owing to oppression 
and persecution in the parent state. We have a fellow-feeling 
for the English patriots of former days, and the memory of 
John Hampden is scarcely held in greater honor in his native 
country than in this. 

5. Britain was little known to the rest of the world till the 
time of its conquest by the Romans. Julius Ccesar invaded 
the island 55 years before the Christian era, and conquered a 
part of it. In the reign of the Emperor Claudius, the Roman 
general, Ostorius, defeated the British king, Carac'tacus, and 
sent him a prisoner to Rome ; in the reign of Nero, Suetonius 
defeated the Britons under their queen, Boadicea ; and the Ro- 
man dominion was completely established by Agricola, who 



176 ENGLAND. 

first landed in Britain, A. D. 78. He met with an obstinate 
resistance from Galgacus, a Caledonian chief, but in a few 
years made a complete conquest of all the southern parts of 
the island. 

6. At the time of this conquest, the Britons were a rude and 
barbarous people, divided into numerous tribes. They were 
clothed with the skins of beasts, and their property consisted 
almost wholly in their arms and cattle. Their religion was 
druidism, a cruel superstition ; and the druids, their priests, 
possessed great authority. They taught the transmigration of 
souls, and offered in sacrifice human victims, in great numbers. 

7. The Romans built three walls across the island, in order 
to prevent irruptions of the inhabitants from the north : the 
first was built of turf, by the Emperor Adrian, extending from 
Solway Frith to the mouth of the Tyne ; the second, by An- 
toninus, of earth and stone, reaching from the Forth to the 
Clyde ; and the third by Severus, of stone, running nearly 
parallel with that of Adrian. Other works were also con- 
structed by them, the remains of which are still to be seen. In 
the 5th century, the Romans took their final leave of Britain, 
465 years after the landing of Julius Csesar. 

8. Soon afterwards, the Scots and Picts, from the northern 
part of the island, invaded and ravaged the country. The 
Britons, in their distress, applied for assistance to the Saxons, 
a warlike people, inhabiting the north of Germany. A Saxon 
army of 1,600 men, commanded by two brothers, Hengist and 
Horsa, came (449) to their relief, and the Scots and Picts were 
defeated, and driven into their own territories. 

9. The Saxons, finding the country much superior to their 
own, procured from Germany a reinforcement of 5,000 men, 
Saxons, Angles, and Jutes, took possession of Britain, and re- 
duced the inhabitants to submission, or compelled them to leave 
the country or retreat to the mountains. — From the Angles 
is derived the name of England. 

10. Violent contests afterwards took place, in which King 
Arthur, a British champion, is said to have defeated the Saxons 
in 12 different engagements. The whole history of this re- 
nowned prince is regarded by many as a fiction. But, with 
respect to him, Lord Bacon observes, that " in his acts there is 
enough of truth to make him famous, besides that which is 
fabulous." The Saxons, however, finally triumphed ; and in 
about 150 years after their invasion, the Heptarchy, or seven 
Saxon kingdoms, were established, which subsisted about 200 
years, exhibiting a series of dissensions and contests. At 
length, Egbert, a prince of the house of Cerdic, the first King 
of Wessex, by his prudence and valor, united them into one 
monarchy, under the name of England, in 827. 



ENGLAND. 177 

11. In 597, about 230 years previous to this event, Augus- 
tine, with 40 monks, had been sent to Britain by Pope Gregory 
the Great, to convert the Saxons to Christianity : the Britons 
had long before been partially converted. The state of society, 
however, was still barbarous. Christianity, in the defective 
form in which it had been inculcated, had not banished the 
ignorance of the people, nor softened the ferocity of their 
manners. 



SECTION II. 

From the Foundation of the Monarchy to the Norman Con' 
quest. — From A. D. 827 to 1066. 

1. Scarcely had Eghert established and regulated his infant 
monarchy, when he found himself assailed by formidable ene- 
mies in the Danes, whose depredations form a prominent fea- 
ture in the early history of England, and who continued, for 
upwards of two centuries, to be a scourge to the country. 

2. The reign of Alfred the Great, the 6th King of England, 
which began in 872, forms a distinguished era in the early 
history of the monarchy. In one year he defeated the Danes 
in eight battles. But, by a new irruption, they extended their 
ravages, and forced him to solicit a peace. He was compelled 
to seek his safety, for many months, in an obscure part of the 
country, disguised in the habit of a peasant, and lived in a 
herdsman's cottage as a servant. In this humble situation, the 
herdsman's wife is said, on one occasion, to have ordered him 
to take care of some cakes that were baking by the fire ; but 
he forgot his trust, and let them burn, for which she severely 
reprimanded him. 

3. Success having rendered his enemies remiss, and his fol- 
lowers having gained some advantages, he left his retreat ; 
and, in order to discover the state of the hostile army, he en- 
tered the Danish camp in the disguise of a harper. He excited 
so much interest by his musical talents, that he was introduced 
to Guthrum, the Danish prince, and remained with him some 
days. Having discovered the unguarded condition of the 
Danes, he returned to his adherents, and with a large force 
attacked his enemies by surprise, and defeated them with great 
slaughter. 

4. After having restored tranquillity to his distracted king- 
dom, he employed himself in cultivating the arts of peace, and 
in raising his subjects from the depths of wretchedness, igno- 
rance, and barbarism. According to various historians, he 



178 ENGLAND. 

divided England into counties, composed a code of laws, es- 
tablished trial by jury, founded the University of Oxford, insti- 
tuted schools, and, for the instruction of his people, translated 
a number of works into the Saxon language. 

5. The character of Alfred shines forth with distinguished 
lustre in a dark age. He was one of the greatest and best 
sovereigns that ever sat on a throne, — equally excellent in his 
private and his public character. He was distinguished for his 
personal accomplishments both of body and mind, and is re- 
puted the greatest warrior, legislator, and scholar of the age in 
which he lived. 

6. He was succeeded, in 900, by his son Edward, surnamed 
the Elder, from his being the first English monarch of that 
name. He inherited the military genius of his father, and his 
reign was a continued, but successful, struggle against the 
Northumbrians and Danes, who were powerful in the north of 
England. 

7. Athelstan, an able and popular sovereign, was successful 
in his wars with the Danes, Northumbrians, Scots, Irish, and 
Welsh, and he enlarged and strengthened his kingdom. He 
caused the Scriptures to be translated into the Saxon language, 
and enacted a law which conferred the rank of thane, or gen- 
tleman, on every merchant who made three voyages to the 
Mediterranean. 

8. Edmund, after a short reign, was assassinated by the 
notorious robber, Leolf. Edred was the slave of superstition, 
and became the dupe of the famous Dunstan, who was after- 
wards Archbishop of Canterbury, and was canonized as a saint ; 
and with regard to whose pretended conflicts with the devil 
ridiculous stories are related in history. Dunstan possessed 
great abilities, and, under the appearance of sanctity, veiled 
the most inordinate ambition ; yet, in these times of supersti- 
tion and barbarism, he gained a wonderful ascendency over 
the sovereign and the people. 

9. Edwy, or Edwin, by marrying Elgiva, a beautiful prin- 
cess nearly related to him, gave offence to Dunstan ; and 
Archbishop Odo caused her to be put to death in the most 
cruel manner. 

10. Edgar promoted Dunstan to the archbishopric of Can- 
terbury, and made him his chief counsellor. His reign is re- 
markable for being the period in which England was freed 
from wolves. Edgar, having heard of the extraordinary beauty 
of Elfrida, daughter of the Earl of Devonshire, sent Athel- 
wold, his favorite, to ascertain the truth of it. Athelwold, 
overcome by the charms of Elfrida, on his return, assured the 
king that the account of her beauty had been greatly exagger- 



ENGLAND. 179 

ated, and obtained the king's permission to marry her himself 
But the king, having afterwards discovered the treachery of 
his favorite, put him to death, and married Elfrida. 

11. Edgar was succeeded by Edward, his son by his first 
marriage, who was assassinated in the 4th year of his reign, 
and 19th of his age, at the instigation of his mother-in-law, 
Elfrida ; and from this circumstance he was surnamed the 
Martyr. 

12. Ethelred II, the son of Edgar and Elfrida, succeeded 
to the throne at the age of 11 years. He was a weak monarch, 
surnamed the Unready. The Danes again renewed their rav- 
ages, and, by order of the king, such of these foreigners as 
were settled throughout England were massacred, at the festi- 
val of St. Brice, without distinction of age or sex. The news 
of this barbarous transaction, arriving in Denmark, fired every 
bosom with a desire of vengeance. 

13. A large army of Danes, under their king, Sweyn, (who 
was the grandson of Beatrix, the daughter of Edward the 
Elder,) invaded and ravaged the country. Ethelred fled to 
Normandy, and Sweyn was acknowledged (1013) sole king of 
England ; but he survived his exaltation only a short time, and 
Ethelred was again restored. The latter, dying not long after- 
wards, was succeeded by his son, Edmund, surnamed Ironside, 
from his strength and valor ; but his abilities and courage were 
insufficient to save his sinking country. 

14. On the death of Sweyn, his son Canute was proclaimed 
King of England by the Danes. Having expelled a younger 
brother who had usurped the throne of Denmark, Canute as- 
serted his claim to the crown of England, invaded the country 
with a numerous army, and compelled the king to divide his 
dominions with him. Edmund was soon after murdered by 
the treachery of Edric, his brother-in-law, and Canute became 
sole monarch. He was the most powerful sovereign of his 
time in Europe, and was styled the Great, from his talents and 
successes. In the former part of his reign he was severe, but 
in the latter part mild and beneficent ; and he died lamented. 

15. Canute was succeeded by his son Harold, whose prin- 
cipal amusement was the chase, and who obtained the surname 
of Harefoot, from his swiftness in running. On his death, the 
throne was filled by his brother, Canute II, or Hardicanute, 
the last of the Danish kings. The reigns of these two mon- 
archs were short, and signalized by few important events ; and 
both died without issue. 

16. The English now shook off the Danish yoke, and re- 
stored (1041) the Saxon line in Edward, brother of Edmund 
Ironside, though the rightful heir of this line was Edward, 



180 ENGLAND. 

surnamcd the Outlaw, the son of Edmund Ironside, who was 
now an exile in Hungary. Edward had been educated in a 
monastery ; and wil.li regard to his life, says Mr. Burke, " there 
is little that can call his title to sanctity in question, though he 
can never be reckoned among the great kings." He married 
the daughter of Godwin, the Earl of Kent, an ambitious and 
powerful nobleman, who acted a conspicuous part during this 
reign. Edward was canonized by the Pope, and received the 
surname of Confessor ; and it was pretended that he was fa- 
vored with the special privilege of curing the scrofula, or 
king's evil. This power was long supposed to have descend- 
ed to his successors, and the superstitious practice of touching 
for that disorder was continued by the kings of England from 
this period till the revolution of 1688. 

17. Edward the Confessor, dying without children, is said 
to have bequeathed the crown to William, Duke of Normandy, 
though Edgar Alluding, the son of Edward the Outlaw, was 
the rightful heir. Yet Harold, the son of the Earl Godwin, and 
grandson of Esthritha, daughter of Sweyn, was elected and 
proclaimed king by the nobility and clergy. 

18. William of Normandy resolved to maintain his claim to. 
the crown of England by force of arms ; and, having raised 
an army of 60,000 men, he invaded the country. Harold, at 
the head of an army about equal in number, met him, and was 
defeated and slain in the memorable battle of Hastings (1066). 
The Normans lost about 15,000 men, and the English the 
greater part of their army. The nation soon submitted to the 
sceptre of William, who was surnamcd the Conqueror, and 
whose descendants have, to this day, occupied the throne of 
England. 



SECTION III. 

The Norman Family: — William L, the Conqueror; Wil- 
liam II. ; Henry I. ; Stephen (of Blois). — From A. D. 
1066 to 1154. 

1. William possessed great abilities both as a statesman and 
a warrior. In his person he was tall and well proportioned, 
and is said to have been so strong, that scarcely any other per- 
son in that age could bend his bow or handle his arms. " He 
had," says Mr. Burke, " vices in his composition, and great 
ones ; but they were the vices of a great mind ; ambition, the 
malady of every extensive genius ; and avarice, the madness 
of the wise : one chiefly actuated his youth, the other governed 



ENGLAND. 181 

his age. The general run of men he looked on with contempt, 
and treated with cruelty when they opposed him. 11 

2. He disgusted the English by promoting his Norman fol- 
lowers to all offices of importance. He caused the Norman 
language to be adopted in the service of the church, as well as 
in the courts of justice. He is said to have introduced the feu- 
dal system, and to have exchanged trial by jury for the per- 
nicious one of single combat; and he compelled the people to 
extinguish their fires at the sound of the curfew hell [the fire- 
covering bell], which was rung at 8 o^lock in the evening. 

3. By his forest laws he reserved to himself the exclusive 
privilege of killing game throughout the kingdom ; and made 
it a greater crime to take the life of an animal than that of a 
man. He formed the New Forest by depopulating a tract 
of country about 30 miles in circuit, demolishing 36 parish 
churches, together with the houses of the inhabitants. One 
of the most useful acts of his reign was his compiling Dooms- 
day Book, which contained a register of all the estates of the 
kingdom. 

4. William II., surnamed Rufus, from his red hair, inher- 
ited the ambition and talents of his father ; and was, like him, 
tyrannical, perfidious, and cruel. After a reign of 13 years, 
which was disturbed by insurrections, and by quarrels with the 
ecclesiastics, particularly with Anselm, the primate, he was 
accidentally shot by Sir Walter Tyrrel, with an arrow aimed 
at a stag in the New Forest. 

5. Henry I., surnamed Beauclerc, or the Scholar, on ac- 
count of his learning, was the younger brother of William 
Rufus. He took advantage of the absence of his eldest 
brother, Robert, the rightful heir, who was on a crusade to 
the Holy Land, and secured the crown for himself. He in- 
vaded his brothers Norman dominions, and Robert, on his re- 
turn, was defeated, taken prisoner, and confined in Wales till 
his death. 

6. Henry married Matilda of Scotland, great granddaughter 
of Edmund Ironside, and in this way the Saxon and Norman 
families were united. The latter part of his life was rendered 
disconsolate by the loss of his only son, who was drowned on 
his passage from Normandy ; and from that fatal moment he 
was never seen to smile. Henry was an able, courageous, 
and accomplished sovereign ; but ambitious, licentious, and 
ungrateful. 

7. On the death of Henry, the crown fell by right to his 
daughter, Matilda, or Maud, married first to Henri/ V., Em- 

lf> 



182 ENGLAND. 

peror of Germany, and afterwards to Geoffrey Plantagenet, 
Earl of Anjou. By the latter she had several children, of 
whom the eldest bore the name of Henry. But Stephen, a 
nephew of the late king, the most popular nobleman in the 
kingdom, and distinguished for his ambition, valor, generosity, 
and courtesy, seized upon the crown. Matilda immediately 
landed in England, and, raising a small army, defeated Ste- 
phen, and took possession of the crown ; but her haughty and 
despotic behavior caused a revolt, and Stephen, in his turn, de- 
feated her, compelled her to quit the kingdom, and again ob- 
tained possession of the throne. 

8. Henry, the son of Matilda, afterwards invaded England, 
and, during the heat of the contest, Eustace, the king's eldest 
son, was removed by a sudden death. Soon after this event, 
the jarring interests of the two parties were reconciled, Ste- 
phen being allowed to retain the crown during his life, and 
Henry being acknowledged as his successor ; and this trans- 
action was shortly afterwards followed by Stephen's death. — 
During this reign, England was harassed and desolated by a 
succession of civil contentions and wars, which were carried 
on with unrelenting barbarity by the pillage and destruction of 
the inhabitants, and the conflagration of the towns. 



SECTION IV. 

Family of Plantagenet : — Henry II. ; Richard I. ; John ; 
Henry III. ; Edward I. ; Edward II. ; Edward III. ; 
Richard II. — From A. D. 1154 to 1399. 

1. Henry II, the first of the Plantagenets, being descended 
by his grandmother from the Saxon kings, and by his mother 
from the Norman family , succeeded to the throne, to the great 
satisfaction of the nation. He is sometimes called Shortmantle, 
because he brought the use of short cloaks out of Anjou to 
England. In addition to England, he possessed, by inherit- 
ance, and by his marriage with Eleanor, heiress of the duchy 
of Guienne, nearly one half of France, and, during his reign, 
he conquered Ireland ; so that he had more extensive domin- 
ions than any English monarch who had preceded him, and 
was the most powerful sovereign of his age. Of Eleanor, his 
queen, Sir James Mackintosh says, " She was the firebrand of 
his family, in whose eyes the fair dowry of Aquitaine appeared 
a cover for every crime." 

2. The different countries of Europe had for a century 



ENGLAND. 183 

been agitated with the contest between church and state, or 
the ecclesiastical and civil authority. This contest reached its 
height in England during Henry's reign, of which it forms a 
prominent feature. Thomas a Becket, the hero and martyr 
of the ecclesiastical party, a man of extraordinary talents and 
inordinate ambition, exalted his power to such a degree, that it 
would admit of a question, whether the king or the archbishop 
was the first man in the kingdom. Becket had for some time 
held the office of chancellor, and lived in the manner of a 
prince ; but, on assuming the office of Archbishop of Canter- 
bury, he dismissed his splendid train, cast off his magnificent 
apparel, abandoned sports and revels, and wore the habit of a 
monk. " Religion," says Sir James Mackintosh, " might ac- 
quire a place in his mind which she had not before ; but it was 
so alloyed by worldly passions, that it is impossible for us to 
trust on any occasion to the purity of his motives." 

3. During the preceding reign, the power of the clergy had 
increased to a most exorbitant height ; they were also extreme- 
ly corrupt in their morals, and committed with impunity the 
most enormous crimes. No less than 100 murders are said to 
have been proved, in the presence of the king, to have been 
committed by ecclesiastics since his accession; and holy or- 
ders were esteemed a sufficient protection for every species of 
crime. 

4. Henry resolved to restrain the authority, and reform the 
abuses, of the clergy, and for this purpose he summoned, in 
1164, a general council of the nobility and clergy at Claren- 
don, and submitted to them 16 propositions, which were agreed 
to, and are known under the title of the Constitutions of 
Clarendon. Among other things, it was enacted, that clergy- 
men accused of any crime should be tried by temporal judge-s. 
Becket, however, made the most resolute and formidable re- 
sistance to the changes proposed by Henry ; and, after a long 
series of contests with the haughty primate, the king was, on a 
certain occasion, so exasperated by his conduct, that he rashly 
exclaimed, " What ! among all those whom I have obliged, is 
there none who will avenge me of that insolent priest ? " The 
words were scarcely spoken, when four knights of distinguished 
rank, interpreting the king's complaints as commands, set out 
with a resolution to avenge the wrongs of their sovereign. 
They pursued the prelate into the cathedral, and assassinated 
him before the altar. 

5. The account of this transaction filled Henry with con- 
sternation, and caused great excitement in England. Becket 
died a martyr to ecclesiastical authority, and the manner of his 
death effected the triumph of his cause. He was canonized 



184 ENGLAND. 

by the Pope as a saint, by the title of St. Thomas of Canter- 
bury ; and numerous miracles were pretended to be wrought 
at his tomb, which became a celebrated resort of pilgrims, 
100,000 of whom are said to have been present at a jubilee 
which was observed once in 50 years. 

6. Henry publicly expressed his sorrow for having used the 
rash words which had occasioned the death of the primate, and 
expiated his offence by a humiliating penance at his tomb. 
Having approached within three miles of Canterbury, he dis- 
mounted, walking barefoot over the flinty road, which, in some 
places, he marked with blood, to the consecrated spot ; spent 
there, in fasting and prayer, a day and night, and even pre- 
sented his bare shoulders to be scourged by the monks with a 
knotted cord. The assassins did penance by a pilgrimage to 
Jerusalem, where they died ; and this inscription, in Latin, was 
put on their tomb : " Here lie the wretches who murdered St. 
Thomas of Canterbury." 

7. The latter part of Henry's life and reign presents an in- 
volved and deplorable scene of family discord and contention, 
sons against their father, wife against husband, and brother 
against brother. His three eldest sons, instigated by their 
mother, and assisted by Louis VII., King of France, engaged 
in a series of rebellions, with a design to wrest the crown from 
their father. 

8. Queen Eleanor left her husband, and openly associated 
herself with the rebellion of her sons ; but she was, while 
making her way to the court of France, taken, dressed in man's 
clothes, brought back to Henry, and kept in confinement dur- 
ing the rest of his life. The queen had been irritated against 
her husband by his neglect and infidelities, and particularly by 
his attachment to Rosamond Clifford, who, under the title of 
the Fair Rosamond, is described as a woman of extraordinary 
beauty, and who made a conspicuous figure in the romances 
and ballads of the times. 

9. Henry had manifested for his children, in their more 
early years, an affection bordering on excess ; and when he at 
last found that his youngest, unworthy, but favorite son, John, 
like all the rest, had joined the confederacy against him, he 
felt that his cup of affliction was full ; gave himself up to 
transports of ungovernable grief; cursed the day of his birth ; 
uttered imprecations against his sons which he could never be 
prevailed upon to retract ; and, worn out with cares, disap- 
pointments, and sorrows, died of a broken heart. 

10. The character of Henry may be regarded as a mixture 
of the qualities, good and bad, naturally arising out of strong 
intellect, a strong will, and strong passions. He was distin- 



ENGLAND. 185 

guished both as a warrior and a statesman ; and he is ranked 
among the ablest and most useful sovereigns that have occu- 
pied the throne of England. The government was still des- 
potic ; but the power of the barons was restrained during this 
reign, and the laws better administered than they had been 
since the Conquest. 

11. Henry was a patron of the arts, particularly of Gothic 
architecture ; and his reign is remarkable for being the period 
when many of the sumptuous English edifices were erected, 
and also for the introduction of various improvements with re- 
sard to the conveniences and comforts of life. The arts of 
luxury, however, were yet in a rude state. Glass windows 
were regarded as a mark of extraordinary magnificence ; and 
the houses of the citizens of London were constructed of wood, 
covered with thatch, with windows of lattice or paper ; they 
had no chimneys ; and the floors were covered with straw. 

12. The description of the magnificence displayed by Becket, 
while he was chancellor of the kingdom, will afford some idea 
of the rude state of the arts. Nobody, it is said by contem- 
porary writers, equalled him in refinement and splendor. 
" Every day, in winter, his apartments were strewed with 
clean straw or hay, and, in summer, with rushes or leaves, that 
those who came to pay their court to him might not soil their 
fine clothes by sitting on a dirty floor." 

13. Richard J., surnamed Cceur de Lion, or Lion-hearted, 
who succeeded his father, Henry II., commenced his reign by 
a cruel persecution of the Jews. The frenzy for the crusades 
was, at this period, at its height in Europe. To a prince of 
the adventurous spirit and military talents of Richard, these 
enterprises presented irresistible attractions ; and after making 
preparation, he, in connection with Philip Augustus of France, 
embarked on an expedition to the Holy Land. They took 
Acre in concert ; and Richard, especially, acquired great re- 
nown by his exploits, and defeated the heroic Saladin in the 
battle of Ascalon, in which about 40,000 of the Saracens were 
slain. 

14. On his voyage homeward, being shipwrecked, he dis- 
guised himself, with an intention of travelling through Ger- 
many ; but he was discovered, and imprisoned by the emperor. 
He was ransomed by his subjects for the sum of <£300,000, 
and, after an absence of nine years, returned to his dominions ; 
but he died, not long after, of a wound which he received at 
the siege of the castle of Chaluz, in France, belonging to one 
of his rebellious vassals. 

15. Richard, who has been styled the Achilles of modern 

16* 



186 ENGLAND. 

history, was preeminent for his valor, which was almost his 
only merit. Even a century after his death, his name was 
employed by the Saracen cavalier to chide his horse, and by 
the Saracen mother to terrify her children. His ambition, 
tyranny, and cruelty, were scarcely inferior to his valor ; his 
laurels were steeped in blood, and his victories were purchased 
with the impoverishment of his people. 

16. Richard was succeeded by his brother John, who is sup- 
posed to have murdered his nephew Arthur, who was the son 
of Geoffrey, an elder brother, and the rightful heir. Philip 
Augustus of France supported the claim of Arthur to the 
throne ; and, on account of his being murdered, he stripped 
the English monarch of his possessions in that country. In 
consequence of this loss of his territories, John received the 
surname of Lackland. 

17. John excited against himself the displeasure of Innocent 
III., the haughty and tyrannical pontiff, who proceeded to lay 
the kingdom under an interdict, and afterwards excommuni- 
cated the king, and absolved his subjects from their allegiance. 
The wretched monarch was intimidated into submission, and 
on his knees solemnly surrendered his kingdom to the holy 
see, consenting to hold it as the Pope's vassal. In this manner 
he made peace with the church, but he brought upon himself 
the universal contempt and hatred of his people. 

18. The barons, under the direction of Langton, the pri- 
mate, formed a confederacy, and demanded of the king a rat- 
ification of a charter of privileges. John, bursting into a 
furious passion, refused their demand. They immediately 
proceeded to open war ; and the king, finding himself deserted, 
was compelled to yield. He met his barons at Runny -mede, 
and, after a debate of a few days, signed and sealed (1215) 
the famous deed of Magna Charta, or the Great Charter, which 
secured important liberties and privileges to every order of 
men in the kingdom, and which is regarded as the great bul- 
wark of English liberty. John granted, at the same time, the 
Charter of the Forest, which abolished the exclusive right of 
the king to kill game all over the kingdom. 

19. The character of John is represented as more odious 
than that of any other English monarch ; debased by every 
vice, with scarcely a single redeeming virtue. His reign, 
though most unhappy and disastrous, is, notwithstanding, 
memorable as the era of the dawn of English freedom. 

20. Henry III. succeeded to the throne at the age of only 
nine years, under the guardianship of the Earl of Pembroke. 



ENGLAND. 187 

He was a weak monarch, timid in danger, presumptuous in 
prosperity, and governed by unworthy favorites. His lot was 
cast in a turbulent period of English history, and his long reign 
of 56 years consisted of a series of internal conflicts, though 
it was little disturbed by foreign war. 

21. The incapacity of the king was more productive of in- 
convenience to himself than of misery to his subjects. Under 
his weak but pacific sway, the cause of popular freedom was 
advanced, and the nation grew more rapidly in wealth and 
prosperity than it had done under his military and more re- 
nowned predecessors. 

22. Towards the latter part of the reign of Henry, the 
barons, with Simon de Montfort, Earl of Leicester, at their 
head, entered into a confederacy to seize the reins of govern- 
ment ; and they compelled Henry to delegate the regal power 
to 24 of their number. These divided among themselves all 
the offices of government, and new-modelled the parliament, 
by summoning a certain number of knights, chosen from each 
county. 

23. This measure proved fatal to the power of the barons ; 
for the knights, indignant at Leicester's usurpation, concerted 
a plan for restoring the king. A civil war ensued. Leicester, 
at the head of a formidable force, defeated the royal army at 
Lewes, and made both the king and his son Edward prisoners. 
He compelled the feeble king to ratify his authority by a 
solemn treaty ; assumed the character of regent, and called a 
parliament, summoning two knights from each shire, and depu- 
ties from the principal boroughs (1265). This is regarded as 
the era of the commencement of the House of Commons, being 
the first time that representatives to Parliament were sent from 
the boroughs. 

24. Prince Edward, having at length regained his liberty, 
took the field against Leicester, and defeated him with great 
slaughter, in the famous battle of Evesham. In this battle, 
Leicester himself was killed, and Henry, by the assistance of 
his son, was again placed on the throne. 

25. Edward L, surnamed Longshanks, from the length of 
his legs, on succeeding to the throne, caused 280 Jews in Lon- 
don to be hanged at once, on a charge of having corrupted 
the coin ; and 15,000 were robbed of their effects, and ban- 
ished from the kingdom. He soon after undertook to subdue 
Wales, and having defeated and slain the sovereign, Prince 
Llewellyn, he annexed the country to the crown of England. 
He created his oldest son Prince of Wales, a title which has 
ever since been borne by the oldest sons of the English mon- 
archy. 



188 ENGLAND. 

26. The conquest of Wales inflamed the ambition of Ed- 
ward, and inspired him with the design of extending his do- 
minion to the extremity of the island. On the death of 
Alexander III., who left no son, Bruce and Baliol were com- 
petitors for the throne of Scotland, and Edward was chosen 
umpire to decide the contest between the two rivals. He ad- 
judged the crown to Baliol, who engaged to hold it as a vassal 
of the King of England. 

27. Baliol, however, soon afterwards renounced his allegi- 
ance ; hence arose a war between England and Scotland, 
which lasted, with little intermission, upwards of 70 years, 
and drenched both kingdoms with blood. Edward invaded 
Scotland with a large army ; defeated the Scots with great 
slaughter in the battle of Dunbar ; subdued the kingdom ; and 
Baliol was carried captive to London. 

. 28. While Edward was prosecuting a war in France, the 
Scots were roused to exertion, for the recovery of their inde- 
pendence, by their renowned hero, Sir William Wallace ; but, 
after gaining a series of victories, they were at length defeated 
by the King of England, with immense loss, in the battle of 
Falkirk. Wallace became a prisoner of Edward, who put 
him to death with barbarous cruelty. The Scots found a 
second champion and deliverer in Robert Bruce, grandson of 
the competitor of Baliol, who, having expelled the British from 
the country, was raised to the throne of his ancestors. Ed- 
ward prepared to make a new invasion with an immense army, 
but died after having advanced as far as Carlisle. 

29. Edward, who was one of the greatest of the English 
sovereigns, was eminent as a warrior ; and, on account of his 
wisdom as a legislator, he has been styled the English Jus- 
tinian. But he was, in disposition, a tyrant, and, as often as 
he dared, trampled on the liberties or invaded the property of 
his subjects. He was, however, admired by his contempora- 
ries, and his barons respected the arbitrary sway of a monarch 
as violent and haughty as themselves. His reign was highly 
advantageous to the kingdom, particularly for the improve- 
ments made in the national code, and the administration of 
justice. He repeatedly ratified Magna Charta, and an impor- 
tant clause was added to secure the people from the imposition 
of any tax without the consent of parliament. Ever since that 
time, there has been a regular succession of English par- 
liaments. 

30. Edward II, surnamed of Caernarvon, from the place 
of his birth, soon after succeeding to the throne, in compliance 
with his father's dying injunction, invaded Scotland, with an 



ENGLAND. 189 

army of 100,000 men, which was met at Bannockhurn by 
30,000 Scots, under their king, Robert Bruce (1314). A 
great battle ensued, in which the English sustained a more 
disastrous defeat than they had experienced since the battle 
of Hastings. 

31. Edward II. , who possessed little of the character of his 
father, was of a mild disposition, weak, indolent, fond of pleas- 
ure, and governed by unworthy favorites, the most famous of 
whom were Gaveston and the two Spencers. His inglorious 
reign was characterized by the corruption of the court, and by 
contests and war between the king and the barons ; and his 
life was rendered unhappy by a series of mortifications and 
misfortunes. 

32. Isabella, his infamous queen, fixed her affections, which 
had long been estranged from her husband, upon Mortimer, a 
powerful young baron ; and she, together with her paramour, 
formed a conspiracy against the king, and compelled him to 
resign the crown to his son. He was then thrown into a prison, 
and afterwards murdered, by order of Mortimer, in a barbarous 
manner. 

33. Edward III. succeeded to the throne at the age of 14 
years. A council of regency, consisting of 12 persons, was 
appointed, during the minority of the king ; yet Mortimer and 
Isabella possessed the chief control. But Edward, on coming 
of age, could not endure the authority of a man who had caused 
the murder of his father, or of a mother stained with the foul- 
est crimes. Mortimer was condemned by parliament, and 
hanged upon a gibbet ; and Isabella was imprisoned for life at 
Castle Risings, and continued for 28 years a miserable monu- 
ment of blasted ambition. 

34. The king, soon after he was established on the throne, 
made war with the Scots, and defeated them with great slaugh- 
ter in the battle of Halidown Hill (1333). On the death of 
Charles IV., he laid claim, in right of his mother, to the crown 
of France, which he attempted to gain by force of arms, in 
opposition to Philip of Valois, who was acknowledged by the 
French nation as the rightful heir. This claim involved the 
two countries in a long and sanguinary war. 

35. After having made his preparations, Edward sailed from 
England with a powerful armament. His fleet, consisting of 
250 sail, encountered that of France, amounting to 400 ships, 
off the coast of Flanders, and gained one of the greatest naval 
victories recorded in history. The loss of the English is stated 
at 4,000 men and 2 ships ; that of the French, at 30,000 men 
and 230 ships. 



190 ENGLAND. 

36. Edward then invaded France at the head of 30,000 
troops, and, in the famous battle of Cressy (1346), gained a 
splendid victory over Philip, the French king, who had an army 
of upwards of 100,000 men, and whose loss exceeded 30,000. 
This battle is noted not only for the greatness of the victory, 
but also for being the first in English history in which cannon 
were made use of, and likewise for being the scene in which 
Edward the Black Prince, the king's eldest son, then only 16 
years of age, commenced his brilliant military career. — Ed- 
ward afterwards besieged and took Calais, which remained in 
the possession of the English till the time of Queen Mary. 

37. While the English monarch was in France, the Scots, 
under their king David, invaded England, and -were defeated 
at Neville's Cross, near Durham, by Philippa, Edward's heroic 
queen, and their king was led prisoner to London. Of the 
four generals under the queen, three were prelates. 

38. John, who succeeded his father in the throne of France, 
took the field with an army of 60,000 men, against the Black 
Prince, who, with only 16,000 troops, gained a signal victory 
at Poictiers (1356). King John was taken prisoner, and led 
in triumph, by the victorious prince, to London, where he was 
kept a fellow-captive with David of Scotland. 

39. Edward, in the latter part of his reign, sunk into indo- 
lence and indulgence, and experienced a reverse of fortune ; 
and, before his death, all his conquests, with the exception of 
Calais, were wrested from him. His son, the Black Prince, 
(so called from the color or covering of his armor,) falling into 
a lingering consumption, was obliged to resign the command 
of the army ; and Charles V. of France, an able sovereign, 
recovered most of the English possessions in that country. 
The death of the Black Prince, illustrious for his amiable vir- 
tues, as well as for his noble and heroic qualities, plunged the 
nation in grief, and broke the spirits of his father, who survived 
him only about a year. 

40. Edward was the most powerful prince of his time in 
Europe ; and, in personal accomplishments, is said to have 
been superior to any of his predecessors. His domestic ad- 
ministration was, in many respects, excellent, and advantageous 
to his subjects. The astonishing victories, which cast so much 
military splendor on his reign, and which are accounted the 
most brilliant in English history, appear to have dazzled the 
eyes both of his subjects and foreigners, who placed him in the 
first rank of conquerors. But his wars with France and Scot- 
land were unjust in their object ; and, after having caused great 
suffering and devastation, he at last found that the crowns of 
those kingdoms were beyond his reach. 



ENGLAND. 191 

41. In this reign, chivalry was at its zenith in England ; and 
in all the virtues which adorned the knightly character, in 
courtesy, munificence, and gallantry, in all the delicate and 
magnanimous feelings, none were more conspicuous than Ed- 
ward III. and his son, the Black Prince. Their court was, as 
it were, the sun of that system, which embraced the valor and 
nobility of the Christian world. 

42. Richard II., the unworthy son of Edward the Black 
Prince, succeeded to the throne, at the age of 11 years. He 
was indolent, prodigal, perfidious, and a slave to pleasure. 
The administration of the government, during the minority of 
the king, was intrusted to his three uncles, the Dukes of Lan- 
caster, York, and Gloucester, whose contests embroiled all the 
public measures. Of these, the Duke of Lancaster, John of 
Gaunt, or Ghent, (so named from the place of his birth,) was 
the most distinguished, and was possessed of great wealth and 
power ; but he became unpopular, particularly with the cour- 
tiers and clergy ; and he was noted for being (for political rea- 
sons, as is supposed) the protector of Wickliffe, the Reformer, 
whose opposition to the tyranny and corruptions of Rome 
commenced in the preceding reign, and gained him many ad- 
herents. 

43. A poll-tax of three groats, imposed by Parliament upon 
every male and female above the age of 15 years, excited 
universal discontent among the lower classes, on account of 
its injustice in requiring as much of the poor as of the rich. 
One of the brutal tax-gatherers, having demanded payment for 
a blacksmith's daughter, whom the father asserted to be below 
the age specified, was proceeding to improper familiarities with 
her, when the enraged father dashed out his brains with a 
hammer. The spectators applauded the action ; a spirit of 
sedition spread through the kingdom ; and 100,000 insurgents, 
under Wat Tyler, were soon assembled upon Blackheath. But 
the leader was slain, and his followers were finally compelled 
to submit. 

44. While the kingdom was convulsed with domestic con- 
tests, it was also engaged in hostilities with France and Scot- 
land. At Otterburn (1388) was fought, between the English 
under Percy (surnamed Hotspur, on account of his fiery tem- 
per) and the Scotch under Douglas, a battle, in which Percy 
was taken prisoner, and Douglas was slain. — On this battle is 
founded the celebrated ballad of Chevy Chace. 

45. Richard unjustly banished his cousin Henry, the eldest 
son and heir of John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster ; and, on 
the death of the duke, he seized upon his estate : but the king 



192 ENGLAND. 

having afterwards undertaken an expedition to Ireland, in order 
to quell an insurrection, Henry, the young duke, took advan- 
tage of his absence, returned, to England, landed at Raven- 
spur, soon found himself at the head of a numerous army, and 
compelled Richard, on his return, to resign the crown. The 
king being very unpopular, the parliament readily confirmed 
his deposition ; he was then imprisoned, and afterwards mur- 
dered. 

46. The Duke of Lancaster was raised to the throne with 
the title of Henry IV. ; though Edmund Mortimer was the 
true heir to the crown, being descended from Lionel, the 3d 
son of Edward III., whereas Henry was the son of John of 
Gaunt, the 4th son of Edward III. — Hence began contests 
between the houses of York and Lancaster. — During this 
reign and the preceding one, flourished Chaucer, who has 
been styled the Morning Star of English poetry. 



SECTION V. 

Branch of Lancaster. — Henry IV. ; Henry V. ; Henry 
VI. — From A. D. 1399 to 1461. 

1. Henry IV., surnamed Bolinghroke, from the place of his 
birth, who succeeded to the throne by the deposition and mur- 
der of the lawful king, and the exclusion of the rightful heir, 
soon found that the throne of a usurper is but a bed of thorns. 
A combination was immediately formed against him. The 
Scots under Douglas, and the Welsh under Owen Glendower, 
took part with the rebels ; but their united forces were defeated 
in a most desperate and bloody battle at Shrewsbury, and their 
leader, Percy [Hotspur], was killed (1403). 

2. While a subject, Henry was supposed to have imbibed 
the religious principles of his father, John of Gaunt, the patron 
of Wickliffe and his followers. But, after he was raised to the 
throne, he made his faith yield to his interest : as he needed 
the support of the clergy, he procured their favor by endeavor- 
ing to suppress the opinions which his father had supported ; 
and he has the unenviable distinction of having his name re- 
corded in history, as the first English monarch that burnt his 
subjects on account of religion." 

3. Henry was distinguished for his military talents and for 
his political sagacity ; and, had he succeeded to the throne by 
a just title, he might have been ranked as one of the greatest 
of English monarchs. He had been one of the most popular 



ENGLAND. 193 

noblemen in the kingdom ; yet, although his reign was, in 
many respects, beneficial to the nation, he became a most un- 
popular sovereign. His peace of mind was destroyed by jeal- 
ousy and by remorse ; he was an object of pity even when 
seated on the throne ; and he felt the truth of the language 
which Shakspeare puts into his mouth, — " Uneasy lies the 
head that wears a crown." 

4. The latter part of his life was imbittered by the extreme 
profligacy of his son Henry, Prince of Wales. One of the 
prince's dissolute companions having been indicted before the 
chief justice, Sir William Gascoigne, for some misdemeanor, 
he was so exasperated at the issue of the trial that he struck 
the judge in open court. The venerable magistrate, mindful 
of the dignity of his office, ordered the prince to be committed 
to prison. Henry quietly submitted, and acknowledged his 
error. 

5. When the circumstance was related to the king, he is 
said to have exclaimed, in a transport of joy, " Happy is the 
kins; who has a magistrate endowed with courage to execute 
the laws upon such an offender ; still more happy in having a 
son willing to submit to such chastisement ! " 

6. Henry V., on succeeding to the throne, immediately as- 
sembled his former riotous companions ; acquainted them with 
his intended reformation ; forbade their appearance in his pres- 
ence till they should imitate his example ; and dismissed them 
with liberal presents. He commended the chief justice for his 
impartial conduct, and encouraged him to persevere in a strict 
execution of the laws. This victory, which he gained over 
himself, is incomparably more honorable to him than the mar- 
tial exploits which have immortalized his name. 

7. The Wickliffites, or Lollards, were now numerous in 
England, and had for their leader the famous Sir John Old- 
castle, Lord Cohham, a nobleman of distinguished talents, and 
high in favor with the king. But Henry, in matters of religion, 
being under the influence of an intolerant clergy, and particu- 
larly of Archbishop Arundel, gave up to the fury of his ene- 
mies the virtuous and gallant nobleman, who was condemned 
for heresy, hung up by the middle with a chain, and roasted 
alive. 

8. Henry revived the claim to the crown of France, and, 
taking advantage of disorders in that kingdom, invaded it 
with an army of about 15,000 men, and defeated the French 
army, amounting to 60,000 men, in the memorable battle of 
Agincourt (1415). The loss of the French amounted to 
11,000 killed, and 14,000 prisoners. Henry afterwards re- 

17 



194 ENGLAND. 

duced all Normandy, was declared regent of France, and 
acknowledged heir to the crown. But death soon put an end 
to his career of victory. 

9. Henry V. was one of the most heroic of the English 
sovereigns, eminent as a warrior, beloved and adored by mili- 
tary men ; and his short reign is one of the most brilliant in 
English history for military achievement. But his conquests 
were of little benefit to his people. 

10. Henry VI succeeded to the throne when an infant only 
nine months old, and was proclaimed king both of England 
and France. His education was intrusted to Cardinal Beau- 
fort, brother of his grandfather, Henry IV. ; and his uncles, 
the Dukes of Bedford and Gloucester, were appointed pro- 
tectors or guardians of his dominions, the former for France, 
and the latter for England. 

11. Charles VII. , the Dauphin of France, being supported by 
the French people, recovered the kingdom by degrees ; and the 
English, being compelled by that extraordinary heroine, Joan 
of Arc, to raise the siege of Orleans, were afterwards stripped of 
all their conquests in that country, except Calais and Guienne. 

12. Henry, on coming of age, proved himself to be mild 
and inoffensive, but totally incapable of managing the reins of 
government : " he woulb have adorned a cloister, though he 
disgraced a crown." He married Margaret of Anjou, a 
woman whose distinguished talents, ambition, and heroism 
well fitted her to supply the defects of her husband in the wars 
which distracted his reign ; but her intriguing disposition and 
cruelty multiplied the number of her enemies. 

13. Discontents prevailing among the people, an insurrec- 
tion broke out, headed by Jack Cade, who assumed the name 
of John Mortimer, and collected an army of 20,000 rebels ; 
but he was defeated and slain. 

14. The Duke of Gloucester, a favorite of the nation, the 
chief pillar of the house of Lancaster, and presumptive heir 
to the crown [that is, heir in case the king should die without 
issue], had opposed the marriage of Henry with Margaret. 
From this circumstance, he became odious to the queen, and 
his death soon after took place in a suspicious manner. This 
event, added to the imbecility of the king, encouraged the 
Duke of York to assert his claim to the crown. 

15. The houses of York and Lancaster were both descended 
from Edivard III ; that of York from his third son, and that of 
Lancaster from his fourth : the rightful title was, of course, on 
the side of the former. Each party was distinguished by a 
particular badge or symbol ; that of the house of York was a 



ENGLAND. 195 

white rose, and that of Lancaster a red one ; hence the civil 
contests were styled the wars of the Two Roses. 

16. This fatal quarrel, which now (1455) broke out into 
open hostilities, lasted 30 years, was signalized by 12 sangui- 
nary pitched battles, and marked by the most unrelenting bar- 
barity. During the contest, more than 100,000 of the bravest 
men of the nation, including 80 princes of the blood, fell on 
the field, or were executed on the scaffold. 

17. In the battles of St. AYbarCs and Northarnpton, the Lan- 
castrians were defeated, and the king was taken prisoner ; but 
Queen Margaret, having collected a large army, gained the 
battle of Wakefield (1460), in which the Duke of York was 
defeated and slain. But his son and successor, at the head of 
a numerous army, entered London, amidst the shouts of the 
citizens, and was proclaimed king, by the title of Edward IV. 



SECTION VI. 

Branch of York : — Edward IV. ; Edward V. ; Richard 
III — From A. D. 1461 to 1485. 

1. The new king was not permitted to enjoy the crown in 
peace. The heroic Margaret again collected an army of 
60,000 men, which was met by the Yorkists, to the number of 
upwards of 40,000, under the command of Edward and the 
Earl of Warwick. A tremendous battle was fought (1461) at 
Towton, in which Edward obtained a decisive victory, and up- 
wards of 36,000 Englishmen, slain by one another's hands, 
were left dead on the field. — Henry, having been taken pris- 
oner, was confined in the Tower, and there, after being lib- 
erated, and a second time imprisoned, was finally murdered 
(1471), as was supposed, by the Duke of Gloucester, after- 
wards Richard III. 

2. The unfortunate queen, accompanied by her son, a boy 
eight years old, while flying from her enemies, was benighted 
in Hexham forest, and fell into the hands of ruffians, who 
stripped her of her jewels, and treated her with great indignity. 
After she was liberated from them, being overcome with fa- 
tigue and terror, she sunk in despair ; but was suddenly roused 
by the approach of a robber, with a drawn sword. Seeing no 
way to escape, she rose and presented to him her child : " My 
friend," said she, " here is your king's son, whom I commit to 
your protection." The man, pleased with this unexpected con- 
fidence reposed in him, afforded every assistance in his power, 



196 ENGLAND. 

and conducted the mother and son, through numerous perils, to 
a small seaport, whence they sailed to Flanders. 

3. The House of York had been hitherto supported by the 
important assistance of Nevil, Earl of Warwick, the most 
powerful baron in England, and the greatest general of his 
time. But Edward having given offence to his benefactor, 
Warwick was induced to abandon him, and to support the Lan- 
castrians. By his exertions, Edward was deposed, and Henry, 
after having been a prisoner six years in the Tower, was re- 
leased, and again proclaimed king. Thus Warwick, having 
restored Henry, whom he had deposed, and pulled down Ed- 
ward, whom he had placed on the throne, obtained the title of 
king-maker. 

4. But in the bloody battle of Barnet, Edward prevailed, 
and the brave Warwick was slain. The intrepid Margaret, 
having returned to England, made a last effort for the crown, 
in the desperate battle of Tewkesbury (1471), which proved 
fatal to her hopes. Her son was slain, and she herself was 
taken prisoner ; but was afterwards ransomed by the King of 
France, and in that country she passed the remainder of her 
life in obscurity and neglect. 

5. Edward, being now secured on the throne, gave himself 
up to unrestrained indulgence in acts of tyranny, cruelty, and 
debauchery. His brother, the Duke of Clarence, who had as- 
sisted him in gaining the crown, he caused, with the concur- 
rence of his other brother, the Duke of Gloucester, to be 
impeached and condemned ; and he is said to have been 
drowned in a butt of Malmsey wine. — Edward was possessed 
of talents, and was reputed the handsomest and most accom- 
plished man of his time in England. The love of pleasure 
was his ruling passion. " His character," says an elegant 
writer, " is easily summed up : — his good qualities were cour- 
age and beauty ; his bad qualities, every vice." — It was in 
this reign that the art of printing was introduced (1471) into 
England by William Caxton. 

6. Edward IV. left two sons, the eldest of whom, being only 
13 years of age, was proclaimed king, by the title of Edward 
V. Richard, Duke of Gloucester, brother to Edward IV., 
being appointed protector, caused Lord Hastings, and other 
distinguished persons, to be executed without trial ; seized the 
crown, on the pretence that his nephew, Edward V., and his 
brother, the Duke of York, were illegitimate ; and procured 
himself to be proclaimed king, by the title of Richard III. 
After two months, the young princes disappeared, and are said 
to have been smothered in the Tower, by order of Richard. 



ENGLAND. 197 

7. The multiplied and detestable crimes of Richard III, 
who waded to the throne through the blood of his nearest re- 
lations, found an avenger in the Earl of Richmond, the only 
surviving heir of the house of Lancaster. The armies of the 
two rivals met at Bosworth (1485), where a desperate battle 
was fought, which, by reason of Lord Stanley's going over to 
Richmond, proved fatal to Richard, who was defeated and 
slain ; and his rival was crowned on the field by the title of 
Henry VII. This battle terminated the long and bloody con- 
flicts between the two houses of York and Lancaster, which 
had reduced the kingdom to a state of almost savage barbarity ; 
laws, arts, and commerce being entirely neglected for the prac- 
tice of arms. 

8. Richard, who was a man of talents and courage, could 
conceal the most bloody projects under the mask of affection 
and friendship ; and his insatiable ambition led him to perpe- 
trate the most atrocious crimes. He had a harsh and disa- 
greeable countenance, was crook-backed, splay-footed, and 
had his left arm withered ; so that the deformity of his body 
corresponded to that of his mind. 



SECTION VII. 

The Tudor Family : — Henry VII. ; Henry VIII. ; Edward 
VI. ; Mary ; Elizabeth. — From A. D. 1485 to 1603. 

1. The hereditary right of Henry VII. to the crown was 
very defective ; but he strengthened his claim by marrying 
Elizabeth, daughter of Edward IV. ; and in this way the two 
houses of York and Lancaster were united. Henry was the 
son of Margaret, great-granddaughter of John of Gaunt, and 
of Edmund Tudor. The sovereigns of the house of Tudor 
were arbitrary in their principles and character ; but their 
reign, though disturbed by conflicts, both domestic and foreign, 
was, notwithstanding, less convulsed by war than that of any 
other family of English kings. 

2. The policy of Henry was pacific, and his reign was com- 
paratively tranquil ; yet it was disturbed by several plots and 
conspiracies, two of which were of a singular character. One 
of these was the attempt of Lambert Si?nnel, the son of a 
baker, to counterfeit the person of the Earl of Warwick ; the 
other was a similar attempt of Perkin Warbeck to counterfeit 
the Duke of York, who is said to have been smothered in the 
Tower, by the order of Richard III. By the earlier English 

17* 



198 ENGLAND 

historians, Warbcck is uniformly represented to have been an 
impostor, but several later writers maintain that he was the 
real son of Edward IV. 

3. Both of the adventurers aspired to the crown, and met 
with considerable support from the people. Simnel, after 
being proclaimed King of England and Ireland, at Dublin, was 
taken prisoner, and, instead of being executed, was made a 
scullion in the king's kitchen, and afterwards promoted to be 
falconer. Perkin Warbeck, who maintained his cause by force 
of arms for five years, was supported by many of the nobility, 
and acknowledged by the Kings of France and Scotland ; but, 
being at last taken prisoner, he was executed as a traitor ; and 
near the same time, the real Earl of Warwick, the son of the 
Duke of Clarence, and nephew of Edward IV., the last male 
of the Plant agenets, who had been imprisoned from his child- 
hood, for no other crime than his birth, was condemned and 
executed on a charge of treason. 

4. Henry VII. was more deficient in the feelings of the 
heart than in the qualities of the mind ; and, though much re- 
spected, was little beloved. He was wholly devoted to busi- 
ness ; prudent and sagacious ; little susceptible of the social 
and generous affections ; serious and reserved in his manners, 
suspicious in his temper, despotic in his government, and ava- 
ricious in his disposition, — the love of money being his ruling 
passion. He was capable of descending to the meanest arti- 
fices, and of employing the most unprincipled agents in extort- 
ing money from his subjects, to fill his own coffers. Empson 
and Dudley, two lawyers, gained an infamous notoriety as in- 
struments of his rapacity and oppression. By his frugality 
and arbitrary exactions, he accumulated immense wealth, and 
is said to have left, at his death, in ready money, the sum 
of £1,800,000, — an enormous amount of specie for that 
age, equivalent to .£10,000,000, or, according to some, to 
,£16,000,000, at present. 

5. His reign was prosperous at home, and respected abroad ; 
and, though not a popular sovereign, he was, perhaps, next to 
Alfred, the most useful prince that had hitherto sat on the 
throne of England. He enacted many wise and salutary laws ; 
promoted industry ; encouraged commerce ; reduced to sub- 
ordination a factious and insolent aristocracy ; and taught the 
peaceful arts of civilized life to a warlike and turbulent people. 

6. By permitting the nobles to alienate their lands, he 
weakened their power, raised the respectability of the lower 
orders, and gave a mortal wound to the feudal system. He 
expended £14,000 in building one ship, named " the Great 
Harry,'''' which may be considered as the beginning of the 



ENGLAND. 199 

English navy ; inasmuch as the government, before this pe- 
riod, had no other mode of raising a fleet than by hiring or 
pressing the vessels of merchants. 

7. No monarch ever succeeded to the throne of England 
with brighter prospects than Henry VIII. (1509.) Uniting in 
his person the claims of the two houses of York and Lancaster, 
his title was undisputed : the treasury was well stored, the na- 
tion at peace, and the state of the country prosperous. He 
was 18 years of age, of beautiful person, accomplished man- 
ners, frank and open in his disposition, possessed of consider- 
able learning, and fine talents ; and was regarded by the 
people with affection and high expectations. 

8. But these fond expectations were wofully disappointed. 
As the character of the king developed itself, he was found to 
be destitute both of wisdom and virtue, and proved himself an 
unprincipled and cruel tyrant, rapacious and prodigal, obstinate 
and capricious, fickle in his friendships, and merciless in his 
resentments, and capable of sending a minister or a wife to 
the scaffold, with as little feeling or compunction as he would 
have shown in ordering a dog to be drowned. " If all the pic- 
tures and patterns of a merciless prince," says Sir Walter 
Raleigh, " were lost in the world, they might all again be 
painted to the life out of the story of this king. 1 ' 

9. His government was but little short of a despotism ; and 
one of the greatest wonders respecting it is the degrading ser- 
vility of the people and parliament in tamely submitting to his 
tyranny, or becoming the passive instruments of its exercise. 
He chose for his ministers men of eminent talents ; but he 
made them feel the effects of his caprice and cruelty. Arch- 
bishop Cranmer was almost the only one of great distinction 
among them, who had the good fortune to retain, to the last, 
his confidence and regard. 

10. By his profusion and expensive pleasures, he soon ex- 
hausted the treasures which he inherited from his father. 
Though his military operations were not numerous, yet, in 
the early part of his reign, he made war against Louis XII. 
of France, invaded the country, and, at Guinegast, gained the 
battle of the Spurs (so named from the rapid flight of the 
French) ; and his general, the Earl of Surrey, gained a bloody 
victory over the Scots, at Flodden, where James IV., and a 
great part of his nobility, were slain. Henry was also, in 
some degree, involved in the wars of the two great rivals of 
the age, Charles V. of Germany, and Francis I. of France. 

11. Before he arrived at the age of 30, he wrote a book on 
the Seven Sacraments, against Luther, the reformer, which 
pleased the pope so much that he conferred on him the title of 



200 ENGLAND. 

" Defender of the Faith," a title which his successors have 
ever since retained. 

12. But the most memorable transactions of Henry's reign 
were his matrimonial alliances, and the consequences which 
flowed from them. His first wife was Catharine of Arragon, 
widow of his elder brother Arthur, daughter of Ferdinand of 
Spain, and aunt of Charles V. He had been contracted to her, 
at a very early age, by the influence of his father ; and, after 
having lived with her about 18 years, he professed to feel con- 
scientious scruples respecting the lawfulness of the marriage, 
on account of her having been the wife of his brother ; and, 
conceiving a passion for the beautiful and accomplished Anne 
Boleyn, he applied to the pope for a divorce. 

13. Having experienced various delays, and imagining that 
his favorite minister, the celebrated Cardinal Wolsey, was the 
chief obstacle in the way of effecting his object, the king re- 
solved on his ruin, and ordered him to be arrested for high 
treason. But the haughty cardinal soon after fell sick and 
died, having exclaimed, in the pangs of remorse, " Had I but 
served God as diligently as I have served the king, he would 
not have given me over in my gray hairs ! " 

14. The opinions of various universities, favorable to Hen- 
ry's views, having been obtained, and the pope failing to grant 
the divorce, the king caused a court to be held, under Cranmer, 
which pronounced his marriage invalid ; and Lady Anne was 
soon after crowned queen. The papal jurisdiction in England 
was immediately abolished (1534) ; the monasteries suppressed ; 
some alterations made in the doctrines and forms of religion ; 
and the king was declared the Supreme Head of the English 
Church. 

15. The separation of England from the Church of Rome 
was thus begun by the passions of a prince, who meant nothing 
in the world less than the Reformation of religion, which was 
the consequence of it ; and who was a most unworthy instru- 
ment of a most important event. Though Henry ceased to be 
a Roman Catholic, he was far from being a Protestant. He 
arrogated infallibility to himself, and caused the law of the Six 
Articles of religion, termed the " bloody statute," to be enact- 
ed, and condemned to death both Catholics and Protestants who 
ventured to maintain opinions in opposition to his own. The 
venerable Bishop Fisher and the celebrated Sir Thomas More, 
two conscientious Catholics, were beheaded for refusing to ac- 
knowledge his supremacy. 

16. In less than three years after his new marriage, he 
caused Anne Boleyn to be condemned and beheaded, in order 
to gratify a new passion for Jane Seymour, whom he married 



ENGLAND. 201 

the day after the execution, and who died soon after giving 
birth' to Prince Edward, He next married Anne of Cleves, 
but soon discarded her, because he did not find her so hand- 
some as she had been represented ; and Thomas Cromwell, 
Earl of Essex, his prime minister, having been instrumental 
in bringing about this joyless marriage, lost the favor of his 
sovereign, and suffered death on the scaffold. Catharine 
Howard, whom he next married, was condemned and exe- 
cuted for adultery. But Catharine Parr, his 6th wife, had the 
good fortune to survive him. 

17. Henry VIII. left three children, Mary, daughter of 
Catharine of Arragon, Elizabeth, daughter of Anne Boleyn, 
and Edward, son of Jane Seymour. The last succeeded him, 
with the title of Edward VI., in his 10th year, Edward Sey- 
mour, Duke of Somerset, uncle of the young king, being ap- 
pointed protector ; and, after his fall, the Duke of Northum- 
berland was raised to the same office. Edward's short reign 
was distracted by contests between those to whom the direction 
of public affairs was intrusted ; but the Protestant influence 
prevailed in the government, the cause of the Reformation was 
promoted, and the reformed liturgy was modelled under the 
direction of Cranmer ; yet a great part of the people were still 
attached to the Catholic faith. 

18. Edward, a prince of great hopes and virtues, died in 
his 16th year, deeply lamented. So different was his charac- 
ter from that of his father, that he is said never to have signed 
an order for an execution against any person without shedding 
tears. Just before his death, he had been prevailed upon, by 
the interested influence and intrigues of the Duke of Northum- 
berland, the protector, to set aside his sisters, Mary and Eliza- 
beth, and bequeathe the crown to Jane Grey, great-grand- 
daughter of Henry VII., who was married to Lord Guilford 
Dudley, a son of the protector. 

19. Notwithstanding the attempt to alter the succession, 
Mary, who was educated a strict Catholic, was acknowledged 
the rightful heir, and succeeded to the throne (1553) ; and the 
Catholic religion was again restored. Her short reign is noted 
for the cruel persecution of the English Reformers ; and her 
character is painted by Protestant writers in the darkest colors ; 
but it may be remarked, by way of apology for her, that the 
treatment which both she and her mother had received from 
those who rejected the papal supremacy was calculated to in- 
flame her prejudices ; that she was under the influence of evil 
counsellors ; and that she lived in an age when the principles 



202 ENGLAND. 

of religious toleration were not understood or practised by 
either Catholics or Protestants. 

20. Immediately after the death of Edward, Jane Grey, who 
had been appointed successor, by the intrigues of her friends, 
was proclaimed queen by her adherents ; but after wearing the 
crown ten days, she resigned it, and would gladly have re- 
turned to private life. The youth and innocence of herself 
and her husband (neither of them exceeding their 17th year) 
pleaded strongly in their favor ; yet they were condemned and 
beheaded, as also were their principal supporters. 

21. Lady Jane, who is described as a young woman of sin- 
gular virtues and accomplishments, sent, on the day of her 
execution, a message to her husband, who desired to see her, 
informing him that the tenderness of their last interview would 
be too much for her to bear. " Tell him," added she, " that 
our separation will be only for a moment. We shall soon 
meet each other in a place where our affections shall be for 
ever united, and where misfortunes will never more disturb our 
eternal felicity." 

22. A cruel persecution was now commenced against the 
Reformers ; the men who had been most forward in establish- 
ing the Protestant religion in England, were singled out for 
punishment ; and among the most eminent martyrs who were 
burnt at Smithfield (1555), were Cranmer, Latimer, Ridley, 
Hooper, Ferrar, and Rogers. By the cruelty of these pro- 
ceedings, the feelings of the people were shocked ; the excel- 
lent character of most of the sufferers, and the undaunted 
spirit which they exhibited, produced a strong sensation in 
their favor, and diminished the influence of the Church of 
Rome ; so that these barbarities tended to forward, rather than 
to check, the progress of the Reformation. 

23. Mary, in the second year after she succeeded to the 
throne, was married to Philip II. of Spain, — a union unpopular 
with her subjects, and productive of little happiness to herself; 
and, in the last year of her reign, the French took Calais, 
which had been in possession of the English 210 years. Soon 
after this event, the queen died, feeling bitter vexation for the 
loss, and for being aware that she was an object of aversion to 
her husband and to a great part of her subjects. She left few 
to lament her, and there was scarcely the semblance of sorrow 
for her death. 

24. The accession of ElizahetJi to the throne, in 1558, was 
hailed by the nation with joyful acclamations. She had a long 
and auspicious reign, during which tranquillity was maintained 
in her dominions, while the neighboring nations were convulsed 



ENGLAND. 203 

with dissensions ; and England rose, from the rank of a secon- 
dary kingdom, to a level with the first states of Europe. The 
Protestant religion was again restored and protected ; the 
Church of England was established in its present form ; and 
the nation attained a higher state of prosperity than it had ever 
before known, in agriculture, commerce, arts, and literature. 
This reign, which some have considered as the Augustan age 
of English literature, was illustrated by the great names of 
Hooker, Bacon, Spenser, and Shakspeare. 

25. A remarkable circumstance in this period of English 
history relates to the repeated and sudden changes with respect 
to religion, in accordance with the views of the sovereign and 
the court. Many, who had been Protestants under Edward, 
became persecuting Romanists under Mary ; and, under Eliza- 
beth, they were again transformed into zealous promoters of 
the Reformation. Religion, it would seem, hung so loose upon 
a great part, that they were equally ready to conform to the 
Church of Rome or to Protestanism, as might best suit their tem- 
poral interests. Of 9,000 beneficed clergymen, the number 
of those who preferred, on the accession of Elizabeth, to quit 
their preferments rather than the Roman Catholic Church, was 
less than 200. 

26. Elizabeth is charged with treachery and cruelty in her 
treatment of Mary, Queen of Scots, a woman whose extraor- 
dinary beauty and misfortunes seem, in the minds of many, 
to have thrown a veil over all the defects of her character. 
Mary was great grand-daughter of Henry VII, and next heir 
to Elizabeth to the throne of England. She had been educa- 
ted in France as a Catholic, and married, when very young, to 
the dauphin, afterwards Francis II. She had been persuaded, 
imprudently, to assume the title of Queen of England, — a 
circumstance which proved fatal to her peace. 

27. On the death of Francis, she returned to Scotland, at 
the age of 18 years. At this period the Reformation, by the 
zealous labors of John Knox, had made great progress in that 
country ; and the people regarded their Catholic queen with 
abhorrence, and looked to her enemy Elizabeth for support. 

28. Mary married, for her second husband, her cousin, Henry 
Stuart {Lord Darnley), who soon became disagreeable to her, 
and was, in less than two years, murdered : in about three 
months after this tragical event, she married (1567) the Earl of 
Bothwell, who was stigmatized as the murderer of Darnley. 
Her conduct excited against her the whole kingdom of Scotland. 
Public indignation could no longer be restrained. The nobles 
rose against her and her husband, Bothwell : she was taken, con- 
fined in the castle of Lochleven, and was at length compelled 



204 ENGLAND. 

to resign the crown to her infant son, who was proclaimed 
James VI. ; and her illegitimate brother, the Earl of Murray , 
a friend to the Reformation, was appointed regent during the 
young king's minority. 

29. In less than a year, Mary, by the assistance of friends, 
effected her escape from Lochleven Castle, and fled into Eng- 
land, hoping to secure the favor of her rival, Elizabeth. In 
this, however, she was disappointed. After being kept as a 
prisoner more than 18 years in Fotheringay Castle, she was 
tried on an accusation of having been accessory to a conspiracy 
against the Queen of England, was condemned, and beheaded 
in one of the rooms of her prison, in the 45th year of her age. 

30. Elizabeth warmly espoused the cause of the Nether- 
lands, in their revolt against the authority of Philip II. of 
Spain ; and her admiral, Sir Francis Drake, had taken some 
of the Spanish possessions in South America. To avenge 
these offences, and to subjugate the leading Protestant power, 
the Spanish " Invincible Armada" a more formidable fleet 
than Europe had ever before witnessed, was fitted out for the 
invasion of England. 

31. This armament consisted of 150 ships, 3,000 pieces of 
cannon, and 27,000 men. It entered the English Channel in 
the form of a crescent, extending its two extremities to the dis- 
tance of seven miles. It was met by the English fleet, con- 
sisting of 108 ships, commanded by those distinguished mari- 
time chiefs, Howard, Drake, Hawkins, Frobisher, and Raleigh. 
Being gradually weakened, and finally overtaken by a storm, 
it suffered an entire defeat. Only 50 vessels, with 6,000 men, 
returned to Spain. 

32. The age of Elizabeth was fruitful in men of talents, and 
she was assisted in her government by eminent statesmen, 
among whom were Bacon, Burleigh, and Walsingham, men 
wholly devoted to the interests of the najion. But her chief 
personal favorites were unworthy. Of these, in the early part 
of her reign, the principal was Robert Dudley, Earl of Leices- 
ter : after his death, Robert Devereux, Earl of Essex, a young 
nobleman of accomplishments, talents, and high spirit, pos- 
sessed the first place in her affections. The queen and Essex 
had many quarrels and reconciliations ; at last, he broke into 
open rebellion, was convicted of treason, and beheaded. 

33. Elizabeth, who had surprised the nations of Europe by 
the splendor of her course, was destined to close the evening 
of her life in gloom and sorrow. Some ascribe the deep de- 
pression and mental suffering which she, at this period, en- 
dured, to the neglect which she imagined she experienced on 
account of her age and infirmities, when, to use her own ex- 



ENGLAND. 205 

pression, " men would turn their backs on the setting, to wor- 
ship the rising, sun " ; others to the revival of her regret for 
the death of Essex, whom she had given up for his invincible 
obstinacy, but who, she now discovered, had actually thrown 
himself upon her clemency, while his enemies had found 
means to conceal his application. The Countess of Notting- 
ham, now upon her death-bed (according to various historians), 
sent for the queen, to confess to her that Essex, while under 
the sentence of death, had desired her to convey to Elizabeth 
a ring which she had given him, with the assurance that the 
sight of it would at any time recall her tenderness ; but that 
she had neglected to deliver it. The queen, in a frenzy of 
passion, shook the dying countess, exclaiming, " God may for- 
give you, but I never can ! " From that moment she sunk into 
a deep melancholy, rejected all sustenance, and died (1603) in 
profound grief, in the 45th year of her reign, and the 70th of 
her acre. 

34. Elizabeth was distinguished for her learning, and spoke 
fluently Greek, Latin, French, and Spanish. She possessed 
extraordinary talents for government, was great as a public 
character, and commanded the high respect of her subjects 
and of foreign nations. Her three leading maxims of policy 
were, to secure the affections of her subjects, to be frugal of 
her treasures, and to excite dissensions among her enemies. 
She manifested less regard for the liberty, than for the pros- 
perity, of the people. In the former part of her reign, she was 
comparatively moderate and humble, but afterwards haughty 
and severe. Both her disposition and her principles were des- 
potic. With regard to religion, she persecuted both Catholics 
and Puritans ; but, like her father, she had a leaning towards 
Rome in almost everything except the doctrine of papal 
supremacy. 

35. Her private character is less to be admired, being tar- 
nished with insincerity and cruelty, and destitute of the milder 
and softer virtues of her sex. Her manners were haughty and 
overbearing, and her conversation grossly profane. Vain of 
her beauty, which she only could discover ; delighted with the 
praise of her charms, even at the age of 65 ; jealous of every 
female competitor, to a degree which the youngest and silliest 
of her sex might despise ; and subject to sallies of anger which 
no sense of dignity could restrain, — she furnishes a remarkable 
instance of great moral weaknesses united with high intellec- 
tual superiority. 

18 



206 ENGLAND. 



SECTION VIII. 

The Stuart Family : — James I. ; Charles I. : — The Com- 
monwealth ; Cromwell : — Charles II. ; James II. ; William 
and Mary; Anne. — From A. D. 1603 to 1714. 

1. Elizabeth, on the approach of death, nominated for her 
successor the son of her rival Mary, James VI. of Scotland, 
who was the rightful heir by descent. He took the title of 
James I. of England ; and in him the two crowns were united. 
He was the first of the Stuarts, a family whose reign was one 
continued struggle for power between the monarch and the 
people ; and who were characterized by despotic principles, 
injudicious conduct, and such a want of gratitude and good 
faith as to be proverbial for leaving their friends in distress. 

2. James had scarcely arrived in England, when a conspir- 
acy was discovered for subverting the government, and placing 
on the throne his cousin, Arabella Stuart. The celebrated 
Sir Walter Raleigh, who had been distinguished in the pre- 
ceding reign, was sentenced to death on an accusation of being 
connected in this plot. He was, however, reprieved, cast into 
prison, and, 15 years after his condemnation, was, at the insti- 
gation of the king, barbarously beheaded. 

3. Another conspiracy followed, of a more daring nature. 
This was the famous Gunpowder Plot, a design of some des- 
perate Catholics to blow up the Parliament-house, and involve 
in one common destruction the king, lords, and commons. 
Just on the eve of its accomplishment, the plot was discovered, 
and Guy Fawkes was taken, having matches for firing the 
magazine in his pocket. 

4. It was the characteristic weakness of James to attach 
himself to worthless favorites ; such were Carre, Earl of Som- 
erset, and Villiers, Duke of Buckingham, — men on whom he 
bestowed his favors with the utmost prodigality, though they 
were of profligate character, odious to the people, and were 
possessed of no merit, except external beauty and superficial 
accomplishments. 

5. During the reign of Mary, the Puritans first made their 
appearance ; and in the time of Elizabeth they became, in a 
considerable degree, conspicuous. They were strenuous ad- 
vocates for freedom in the state, and a more thorough reforma- 
tion in religion. At the accession of James, they cherished 
high hopes that their views would meet with more favor than 
during the reign of the late queen, inasmuch as he had been 
educated in Presbyterianism ; but, of all persons, they were the 



ENGLAND. 207 

most disappointed. So great was their dissatisfaction, that 
some of them sought refuge, from their restraints and persecu- 
tions, in the wilds of America, and commenced (1620) the 
settlement of New England. 

6. The leading characteristic of James was his love of ar- 
bitrary power. The divine right of kings to govern their sub- 
jects without control was his favorite topic in conversation, and 
in his speeches to parliament. The best part of his character 
was his pacific disposition ; and his reign, which lasted 22 
years, though ignoble to himself, was, in many respects, happy 
to his people, who were enriched by peace and commerce. 

7. In his private character, his morals were far from being 
pure. He possessed considerable ingenuity, and a good deal 
of learning, but more pedantry. He blended a childish and 
degrading familiarity so incongruously with a ridiculous vanity, 
insufferable arrogance, and a vulgar stateliness, that he reminds 
us more of some mock king in a farce, than a real one on the 
theatre of history. He was excessively fond of flattery, which 
was dealt out to him with an unsparing hand by his bishops and 
parasites, who styled him the British Solomon ; yet, in the 
opinion of less interested observers, he merited the appellation 
given him by the Duke of Sully, that of " the wisest fool in 
Europe." " He was," says Bishop Burnet, " the scorn of the 
age, a mere pedant, without true judgment, courage, or steadi- 
ness, his reign being a continued course of mean practices." 

8. The increase of commerce, and consequent influx of 
wealth ; the diffusion of information ; the little respect cher- 
ished for the personal character of the king ; the disappointed 
hopes of the Puritans, the multiplication of their numbers, the 
controversies in which they were engaged, and the privations 
to which they were subjected, — all conspired to diffuse widely 
the spirit of liberty. The current of public opinion was now 
strongly turned to an extension of the rights of the people, 
and to a retrenchment of the power of the sovereign; and, 
during this reign, the seeds were sown of that spirit of resist- 
ance to despotic power, on the part of the people, which, in 
the next, produced a subversion of the monarchy. 

9. Charles I. ascended the throne (1625) in his 25th year, 
under favorable circumstances : his title was undisputed, and 
the kingdom was in a flourishing condition. But within the 
last fifty years, public opinion in the nation had undergone a 
great change, and many of his subjects were extremely jealous 
of their civil and religious liberties, and would no longer be 
governed by precedents which had their origin in times of ig- 
norance and slavery. He soon gave proof that he inherited 



208 ENGLAND. 

the same arbitrary principles with his father, and the same 
worthless favorite, Buckingham, retained his influence and 
authority. — He married Henrietta Maria, daughter of Henry 
IV. of France, who was a zealous Papist, and whose influence 
over the king is regarded as one of the principal causes of his 
calamities. 

10. In the latter part of the reign of James, Charles, ac- 
companied by Buckingham, had visited the court of Madrid, 
in order to solicit the hand of the Infanta in marriage. The 
negotiation, however, failed through the misconduct of Buck- 
ingham, and England was involved in a war with Spain. Soon 
after Charles ascended the throne, he was offended with the 
Parliament for refusing to grant him sufficient supplies in 
carrying on this war, and for resisting his arbitrary designs ; 
and, having adopted the resolution to rule without their aid, 
he proceeded to levy money, in various ways, independent of 
their authority. 

11. One of these methods was by a tax on merchandise, 
called tonnage and poundage, and another by a tax called ship- 
money. The money raised by the latter was now levied, not 
only on seaport towns, but over the whole kingdom ; and 
Charles claimed the right to command his subjects, without an 
act of parliament, to provide and furnish ships, together with 
men, victuals, and ammunition, in such numbers, and at what- 
ever time, he should think proper, — a claim which struck at 
the vital principle of a free government. This assessment of 
ship-money is the famous tax which first roused the whole na- 
tion, at length, to fix and determine, after a long continuance 
of an unsettled constitution, the bounds of their own freedom, 
and the king's prerogative. 

12. A noble stand was made against the payment of this 
imposition by John Hampden, a man who, on account of his 
high character for talents, integrity, and patriotism, possessed 
the greatest influence in parliament, and in the nation. But, 
although the venal judges decided the cause against him, yet 
he obtained the end for which he sacrificed his quiet and his 
safety. The people, believing that the decision was unjust, 
were roused from their lethargy, and became fully sensible of 
the danger to which their liberties were exposed. 

13. The Duke of Buckingham having been assassinated by 
Felton, an Irish fanatic, the Earl of Strafford, the most able 
and devoted champion of the claims of the crown, and the 
most formidable enemy of the liberties of the people., became 
the chief counsellor of the king, and Archbishop Laud had 
the principal influence in ecclesiastical affairs. The current 
of the public sentiment was now running strongly towards 



ENGLAND. 209 

Puritanism, in favor of a simpler form of worship. But Laud, 
so far from countenancing this tendency, had overloaded the 
church with new ceremonies, which were disgusting to the 
people, and which he enforced with the most intolerant zeal. 

14. Not satisfied with attempting to enforce conformity in 
England, the king undertook to establish episcopacy in Scot- 
land also, and to impose the use of the English liturgy upon 
the national church. This measure excited a strong sensation 
among all ranks, from the peer to the peasant : even the 
women were not backward in manifesting opposition. In one 
of the churches of Edinburgh, on the day when the introduc- 
tion of the liturgy was first attempted, no sooner had the ser- 
vice begun, than an old woman, impelled by sudden indignation, 
started up, and exclaiming aloud against the supposed mass, 
threw the stool, on which she had been sitting, at the preacher's 
head. The assembly was instantly in confusion, nor could the 
minister finish the service. The people from without burst 
open the doors, broke the windows, and rent the air with ex- 
clamations of " A pope ! an antichrist ! stone him, stone him ! " 

15. The prelates were equally unsuccessful, in most in- 
stances, throughout Scotland, in enforcing the liturgy. The 
National Covenant, which was first framed at the Reformation, 
and which renounced episcopacy as well as popery, was re- 
newed, and subscribed by all ranks ; and afterwards a new 
bond, of similar purport, but still more determined and hostile 
in its spirit, styled the Solemn League and Covenant, was 
formed and signed by many in England as well as in Scotland, 
who combined together for their mutual defence. 

16. After eleven years' intermission, the king found it neces- 
sary, in 1640, to convoke a Parliament ; but the House of 
Commons, instead of listening to his demands for supplies, be- 
gan with presenting the public grievances, under three heads : 
those of the broken privileges of parliament, of illegal taxes, 
and of violence done to the cause of religion. Charles, per- 
ceiving he had nothing favorable to hope from their delibera- 
tions, soon dissolved the assembly. By another parliament, 
which was not long afterwards assembled, Strafford and Laud 
were sent to the Tower on several charges of endeavoring to 
subvert the constitution, and to introduce arbitrary power. 
Strafford was brought to trial on a charge of treason, and was 
condemned and beheaded ; and, five years afterwards, Laud 
suffered the same fate. 

17. Charles had, in 1629, violated the privileges of parlia- 
ment, by causing nine members to be imprisoned for the part 
which they had taken in debate ; but he was now betrayed 
into a still greater indiscretion, which contributed much to- 

18* 



210 ENGLAND. 

wards kindling the flame of civil war. This was the impeach- 
ment of Lord Kimbolton, and five distinguished commoners, 
Pym, Hampden, Hollis, Hazlerig, and Strode ; and his going 
himself to the House to seize them, leaving 200 armed men at 
the door. Having entered the House, he ordered the speaker, 
Lenthal, to point them out. " Sir," answered the speaker, 
falling on his knees, " I have neither eyes to see, nor tongue 
to speak in this place, but as the House is pleased to direct me, 
whose servant I am ; and I humbly ask pardon that I cannot 
give any other answer to what your majesty is pleased to de- 
mand of me." 

18. The king withdrew without effecting his object, amidst 
low but distinct murmurs of " Privilege, privilege." This ill- 
advised and abortive attempt, which was condemned both by 
his friends and enemies, completed the degradation of the un- 
fortunate monarch. He afterwards apologized to parliament 
for this conduct, but the day of reconciliation was past ; he 
had lost the confidence of that body, and they were now pre- 
pared not only to confine his power within legal bounds, but to 
strip him of his constitutional authority. 

19. Both parties resolved to stake the issue of the contest 
on the sword ; and the standard of civil war was now (1642) 
erected. The cause of the king was supported by three fourths 
of the nobility and superior gentry, by the bishops and advo- 
cates of episcopacy, and by the Catholics ; that of the parlia- 
ment by the yeomanry of the country, the merchants and 
tradesmen in the towns, — by the Puritans, or opponents of epis- 
copacy, comprising the Presbyterians, Independents, and other 
dissenters. The supporters of the king were styled Cavaliers ; 
those of the parliament, Roundheads, — an appellation given to 
them by their adversaries, because many of them cropped 
their hair short. 

20. A religious spirit, unfortunately tinctured with fanat- 
icism, extravagance, and party feeling, was at this period 
widely diffused throughout Great Britain, and it formed a 
prominent characteristic of most of the leaders in parliament, 
and also of those who took up arms in defence of their liber- 
ties. The charge of license and excess fell chiefly on the 
royalists, a great part of whom were men of pleasure, disposed 
to deride the sanctity and austere morality of their opponents. 
" All the sober men that I was acquainted with, who were 
against the parliament," says the celebrated Richard Baxter, 
" used to say, ' The king had the better cause, but the parlia- 
ment had the better men.' " 

21. England had been, comparatively, but little engaged in 
war since the accession of Henry VII., and it had but few 



ENGLAND. 211 

men of military experience. The chief commanders in the 
royal army, besides the king, were the Earl of Lindsey, 
Prince Rupert, and Sir Jacob Astley ; and, in the parliamen- 
tary army, the Earl of Essex had the chief command at first, 
then Lord Fairfax, and afterwards Oliver Cromwell. In the 
early part of the contest, each side lost one of their greatest 
and best men ; Hampden on the part of the parliament, and 
Lord Falkland on that of the king. In the battles of Edge- 
hill (1642), and Neiobnry (1643), the royalists had the advan- 
tage ; but in those of Marston Moor ( 1643), and Nasehy ( 1645), 
they were entirely defeated. 

22. After the war had raged nearly five years, the king fell 
into the hands of his enemies, who held him for some time a 
prisoner. At length, a minority of the House of Commons, 
after having expelled their colleagues, being under the influ- 
ence of the parliamentary army, instituted a high court of 
justice, composed of 133 members, for trying him on a charge 
of treason. Of this court, Bradshaw was appointed president. 
The king, having been arraigned before this tribunal, received 
the sentence, that " the court, being satisfied that Charles Stu- 
art is guilty of the crimes of which he has been charged, do 
adjudge him, as a tyrant, traitor, murderer, and public enemy 
to the good people of the nation, to be put to death, by sever- 
ing his head from his body." 

23. Charles was now no longer the man he had been before 
the civil war. Affliction had chastened his mind ; he had 
sought and found strength and relief in the consolations of re- 
ligion ; and his conduct during his trial exalted his character, 
even in the estimation of his enemies. He denied the authority 
of the court, but declared that he forgave those who were the 
cause of his death, and submitted to his fate with fortitude and 
composure. Having laid his head on the block, one of the 
masked executioners severed it from his body at a blow ; the 
other, holding it up, exclaimed, " Behold the head of a traitor ! " 
while the sobs and lamentations of the spectators were mingled 
with the acclamations of the soldiery (1649). 

24. Such was the end of Charles I., — an awful lesson to kings 
to watch the growth of public opinion, and to moderate their 
pretensions in conformity with the reasonable desires of their 
subjects. His execution, however, was contrary to the general 
feelings of the nation, but was the deed of comparatively a 
few men, actuated by ambition or the madness of the times. 
Even of the commissioners appointed to sit in judgment on 
him, only about half could be induced to attend his trial. But 
the manner of his death has tended to exalt his posthumous 
reputation ; for, while it has moderated the reproaches of his 



212 ENGLAND. 

adversaries, it has enhanced the encomiums of his advocates, 
who have styled him " the royal martyr," and, in sympathy 
for his sufferings and resentment against the regicides, have 
been disposed to overlook his misdeeds which brought him to 
the scaffold. 

25. It was the misfortune of Charles to inherit despotic prin- 
ciples from his ancestors, to be educated in a servile and profli- 
gate court, and to be surrounded by wretched counsellors. He 
was one of the last men to learn the important lesson, which 
princes in all ages have been slow to learn, that the influence 
of authority must ultimately bend to the influence of opinion. 
But his greatest defect, as well as the principal cause of his 
ruin, was the system of duplicity and insincerity upon which 
he acted in his public character. Such was his want of fidelity 
in his engagements, that the parliament could never confide in 
his promises. 

26. But, weak and reprehensible as he was as a king, he was 
by no means destitute of abilities. He was possessed of con- 
siderable learning and good talents as a speaker and writer, 
and, in his private character, was exemplary. In his manners 
he is represented as cold, stiff, and formal, preserving a state 
and reserve, which were calculated to alienate those who ap- 
proached him. With respect to religion, he was, says Bishop 
Burnet, " much inclined to a middle way between Protestants 
and Papists." 

27. The proceedings of Charles were at direct variance 
with every principle of civil and religious liberty ; and, had 
they been acquiesced in on the part of the people, England 
might now have been a despotism. Mr. Hume, the great 
apologist for the Stuart family, acknowledges the services of 
the Puritans, " b}^ whom alone," according to him, " the pre- 
cious spark of liberty had been kindled and was preserved, 
and to whom the English owe the whole freedom of their con- 
stitution." 

28. The intentions of those who first resisted the despotic 
and intolerant measures of the kino; and his court were doubt- 
less upright and patriotic ; and their exertions to secure the 
rights of the nation, which had been wantonly violated, entitle 
them to the gratitude of posterity. Yet it must be acknowl- 
edged, that those who opposed the intolerance of the king and 
of Laud had themselves no consistent principles 'of religions 
liberty. In the progress of the contest, party spirit and fanat- 
icism were called into powerful operation, and the leaders of 
the popular party, in many cases, acted on the principle that 
the end sanctifies the means, and appeared to think themselves 
absolved from all obligations of honor and honesty. Right 



ENGLAND. 213 

and justice were outraged by those who professed to have 
drawn the sword in their defence. But such inconsistency is 
characteristic of revolutions. 

29. The death of the king was soon followed by the aboli- 
tion both of the monarbhy and the House of Lords by the 
Commons ; and a republican government was established. It 
was publicly proclaimed, that the supreme authority of the na- 
tion resided in the representatives of the people ; and that it 
should be accounted treason to give any person the title of 
king without the authority of parliament. 

30. After the execution of Laud, Episcopacy had been 
abolished, and Presbyterianism substituted in its stead. But 
the Presbyterian interest soon began to decline, and the Inde- 
pendents gained the ascendency ; and the power which the 
parliament had wrested from the king was at length, by the 
management of Cromwell, transferred to the army. Before 
the trial of Charles, measures had been taken to exclude the 
Presbyterians from parliament ; and that part of the House 
which remained, distinguished by the ridiculous name of the 
Rump, was composed of Independents, under the influence of 
Cromwell. In this manner the Presbyterians, who had over- 
turned the church and the throne, fell victims to the military 
power which they had used as the instrument for accomplishing 
their designs. 

31. The parliament of Scotland took no part in the trial of 
the king, and after his death they proclaimed Charles II. their 
sovereign, on condition of his signing the Covenant. Crom- 
well, at the head of 16,000 men, marched into Scotland, and 
defeated (1650) the royalist Covenanters in the battle of Dun- 
bar. The royal army, retreating into England, was pursued 
by Cromwell, and, in the desperate battle of Worcester (1651), 
almost the whole of the troops were killed or taken prisoners ; 
and the victorious commander returned in triumph to London. 

32. Young Charles escaped with difficulty. He assumed 
the disguise of a peasant, journeying in the least frequented 
roads, travelling only in the night, and passing the day in ob- 
scure cottages, where he was unknown, and where his food 
was generally a little coarse bread and milk. On one occa- 
sion, he sought safety by concealing himself, for a day, in the 
top of a large oak. In that precarious situation, he saw and 
heard his pursuers, as they passed by, talking of him, and ex- 
pressing a wish that they might discover the place of his con- 
cealment. After two months of romantic adventure, he found 
an opportunity of escaping to France. 

33. The republican parliament passed (1651) the famous 



214 ENGLAND. 

Navigation Act, which, by prohibiting the importation of all 
foreign merchandise, except in English bottoms, or in those of 
the country producing the commodities, tended greatly to pro- 
mote the naval superiority of Great Britain. This act, the ob- 
ject of which was to wrest the carrying-trade of Europe from 
the Dutch, was the cause of a war between England and Hoi- 
land, which terminated in favor of the former, and in which 
the celebrated Admiral Blake distinguished himself, and had for 
his antagonists the great Dutch maritime chiefs, Van Tromp 
and De Ruyter. 

34. The parliament, which had been in session twelve years, 
known by the name of the Long Parliament, had" lost the 
confidence of the people. It had been subservient to the views 
of Cromwell ; but, having at length become jealous of him, it 
formed the design of reducing the army, intending, by that 
means, to diminish his power. Cromwell, perceiving their ob- 
ject, and being secure of the attachment of the army, resolved 
on seizing the sovereign pow r er. While sitting in a council of 
officers, on being informed of an unfavorable reply of parlia- 
ment to a petition which they had presented, he rose up on a 
sudden, with an appearance of fury, and, turning to Major- 
General Vernon, cried out, that he was compelled to do a thing 
which made the very hairs of his head stand on end. 

35. Taking with him 300 soldiers to the door, he speedily 
entered the house with marks of violent indignation in his 
countenance ; and, after listening awhile to the debates, he 
started up,' and began to load the parliament with reproaches. 
Then, stamping upon the floor, he gave a signal for his soldiers 
to enter ; and, addressing himself to the members, " For 
shame ! " said he ; " get you gone ; give place to honester 
men ! I tell you, you are no longer a parliament ; the Lord 
has done with you ! " Having turned out all the members, he 
ordered the doors to be locked. 

36. In this manner Cromwell seized the reins of govern- 
ment; but he was willing to give his subjects a parliament, 
not, indeed, elected in the usual form, but modelled on prin- 
ciples entirely new. The ministers took the sense of the 
" Congregational churches " in the several counties, and re- 
turns were made containing the names of such persons as 
were deemed qualified for this high trust. Out of these, the 
council, in the presence of Cromwell, selected 163 represent- 
atives, to each of whom a writ of summons was sent, requiring 
his attendance ; and, on the appointed day, 120 of them pre- 
sented themselves in the council-chamber at Whitehall. This 
body, composed of men who were deeply imbued with the 
fanaticism of the times, is known by the name of the Little 



ENGLAND. 215 

Parliament, and is also often called Barelone's Parliament, 
from a leading member, a leather-dresser, whose name, given 
according to the taste of the age, was Praise-God Barebone. 

37. The Little Parliament assembled on the 4th of July, 
1653, and was dissolved in the following December. At the 
time of its dissolution, a new constitution was published, and 
Cromwell assumed the title and office of Protector, having 
now obtained the great object of his ambition, the station and 
authority, though not the title, of king. He was assisted by a 
council of 21 members, and, instead of the title of majesty, he 
received that of highness. He afterwards aspired to the title 
of king, which was at length tendered to him, yet under such 
circumstances of opposition and danger, that he thought proper 
to decline it. 

38. The government which he had usurped he administered 
with unrivalled energy and ability, and he was the most able 
and powerful potentate of his time in Europe. Abroad, his 
fleets and armies were victorious, and the island of Jamaica 
and the strong town of Dunkirk were taken from the Spaniards : 
at home, he defeated and punished the conspiracies formed 
against him ; granted religious toleration ; caused justice to be 
ably and impartially administered by upright and learned 
judges ; made himself to be respected and dreaded by the 
neighboring nations, and his friendship to be sought by every 
foreign power ; and the splendor of his character and exploits 
rendered the short period of the protectorate one of the most 
brilliant in English history ; nor were the rights of England, 
under the reign of any other sovereign, more respected abroad. 
But, notwithstanding all his efforts, his enemies were numerous 
among both the royalists and republicans : he passed the last 
part of his life in constant fear of assassination ; wore armor 
under his clothes ; kept pistols in his pocket ; and never slept 
more than three nights in the same chamber. At last, after 
having usurped the government 9 years, he died of a tertian 
ague (1658), in the 60th year of his age. 

39. Cromwell was one of the greatest and most extraordi- 
nary men that England has produced ; and, till the rise of 
Bonaparte, his name was without a parallel in modern Europe. 
Men were accustomed to look with a feeling of awe upon the 
individual who, without the aid of birth, wealth, or connec- 
tions, was able, by the force of his talents, to seize the govern- 
ment of three powerful kingdoms, and impose the yoke of ser- 
vitude upon the necks of the very men who had fought in his 
company to emancipate themselves from the arbitrary sway 

-of their hereditary sovereign. 

40. He owed his elevation to his influence with the army, 



216 ENGLAND. 

and the character of that body and that of their leader were, 
in a great measure, mutually formed by each other. The 
officers and soldiers made high professions of religion ; relig- 
ious exercises were of as frequent occurrence as those of 
military duty ; the generals opened their proceedings in coun- 
cil by prayer ; and among them Cromwell was preeminent in 
spiritual gifts, and was regarded by them as the favorite of 
Heaven. While eagerly toiling up the ascent to greatness, he 
labored to make it appear that he was involuntarily borne for- 
ward by a resistless force, by the wishes of the army, by the 
necessities of the state, and by the will of Providence ; and, in 
assuming authority, he yielded, with feigned reluctance, to the 
advice which he had himself suggested. 

41. The name of Cromwell has been subjected to the almost 
universal charge of unbounded ambition and deep hypocrisy ; 
and there is scarcely to be met with, in the annals of the 
world, another man alike conspicuous, and possessed of equal 
merit in his public and private character, who has met less 
favor from history. This is, indeed, a natural result, as his 
course was alike hostile to legitimate monarchy and re- 
publican liberty, and rendered him equally odious to the two 
leading parties of the times, the advocates of the privileges of 

i the people, and those of the prerogative of the king ; and it 
may also be remarked, that, by his high professions of religion, 
he made himself liable to the severest judgment. His deser- 
tion from the cause of liberty, and his baseness in subverting 
the freedom of his country, proved fatal, at once, to his happi- 
ness and his fame. 

42. Cromwell, in private life, in the several relations of a 
husband, a father, a neighbor, and a friend, was exemplary. 
From his early days to the close of his career, religion, or re- 
ligious enthusiasm, formed a distinguished trait in his charac- 
ter ; and it frequently manifested itself in the senate and in the 
field, and also in his domestic retirement. Some writers have 
maintained that he was a dissembler in religion as well as in 
politics ; and that, for interested purposes, he condescended to 
act the part of a character which he despised. " But this sup- 
position," as Dr. Lingard justly observes, "is contradicted by 
the uniform tenor of his life." 

43. Richard Cromwell, after the death of his father, was 
proclaimed protector ; but the contrast between the father and 
son was wonderful. Richard was neither a statesman nor a 
soldier, had no experience in public business, and possessed 
feeble talents, and little ambition ; and, after a few months, he 
resigned the office, and retired to private life. A state of 



ENGLAND. 217 

anarchy succeeded, when General Monk (afterwards Duke of 
Albemarle), the military commander in Scotland, marched his 
army into England, and crushed the contending factions. A 
parliament was assembled, and on the 29th of May, 1660, 
Charles II , now 30 years of age, was restored to the throne 
of his father. 

44. The nation, indiscreetly trusting to the general profes- 
sions of Charles II, suffered him to assume the crown with- 
out imposing on him any conditions ; and his reign, and that 
of James II, exhibit a disgusting repetition of struggles, similar 
to those which had occurred under the two first princes of the 
house of Stuart. The first impressions with regard to the new 
king were favorable ; his manners were easy and familiar, but 
his habits were indolent ; and experience soon proved his 
character to be profligate and worthless. 

45. The change in the public sentiment, observable at this 
period, is not a little remarkable. The same people, who, but 
a few years before, were so jealous of liberty, and exclaimed 
so loudly against monarchical government, are now exhibited 
as soliciting, with eagerness, the shackles of arbitrary power. 
A number of the regicides were condemned and executed, 
and the bodies of Cromwell, Bradshaw, and Ireton, were dug 
up from their graves, and hanged upon the gallows, to gratify 
the vindictive spirit of the king and the cavaliers. High- 
church or Tory principles, and the slavish doctrines of passive 
obedience and non-resistance, now came in vogue. An act 
of uniformity in religion was passed (1662), by which about 
2,000 non-conforming ministers were deprived of their livings ; 
and another attempt was made to establish episcopacy in 
Scotland. 

46. The prodigality of Charles kept him always in want. 
Dunkirk, which had been acquired by Cromwell, he sold to the 
French for .£400,000, which he soon squandered upon his 
pleasures. He entered into hostilities with the Dutch, which 
were carried on, for some time, with spirit. While this war 
was raging, London was visited (1665) by a tremendous 
plague, which carried off about 90,000 inhabitants ; and was 
followed, the next year, by a fire, by which 13,200 houses, 
comprising about two thirds of the metropolis, were reduced 
to ashes. 

47. In consequence of the unsuccessful issue of the war 
(which was terminated by the peace of Breda, 1667), and of 
the sale of Dunkirk, the government became unpopular, and 
the celebrated Lord Clarendon, on whom the odium was 
chiefly cast, was banished, and passed the remainder of his 

19 



218 ENGLAND. 

life in France. After the fall of Clarendon, the government 
became more unprincipled ; and the five ministers, by whom 
it was conducted, have been stigmatized by the term of Cabal, 
so called from the initial letters of their names. 

48. The Duke of Yo?*k (afterwards James II.) , who had 
now the chief influence at court, was an avowed Catholic : 
Charles, so far as he had any sense of religion, was a con- 
cealed one, and had the baseness to receive from Louis XIY. 
of France a pension of =£200,000 a year, for the purpose of 
establishing the Catholic religion and despotic power in Eng- 
land. A general consternation for the safety of the Protestant 
religion and of public liberty prevailed ; and the latter part of 
Charles's reign exhibits an uninterrupted series of attacks upon 
the lives, liberty, and property of his subjects, and a disgust- 
ing scene of party intrigues, and of plots and conspiracies ; 
yet it was at this period that parliament passed the Habeas 
Corpus act, a most important security to the subject against 
personal oppression. 

49. A pretended Popish Plot, disclosed by the infamous 
Titus Oates, occasioned an unjust execution of Lord Stafford, 
and some other Catholics. Another pretended conspiracy, in 
favor of reform, was called the Rye-House Plot, in which 
those eminent patriots, Lord Russell and Algernon Sydney, 
were accused of being concerned, and, on testimony supposed 
to be perjured, were condemned and beheaded. 

50. The character of the court, as well as that of the king, 
was notorious for its profligacy ; and it had a most unhappy 
influence upon the nation. A general dissoluteness of manners 
characterized the reign. All appearance of devotion, and all 
regularity of morals, were regarded as puritanical, and ex- 
ploded as unfashionable. Charles II. was a man of wit and 
good-humor, and possessed such talents as enabled him to 
shine among his gay and profligate companions ; but he had 
no qualities, as a man or a king, that entitle him to the respect 
or gratitude of posterity. 

51. James II, who succeeded (16S5) his brother Charles, 
was inferior to him in talents, but much more devoted to busi- 
ness : like his predecessors of the Stuart family, he was arbi- 
trary and impolitic ; and his short and inglorious reign was 
wholly employed in attempts to establish the Catholic religion 
and despotic power. On assuming the government, he ex- 
pressed his contempt for the authority of parliament, and his 
determination to exercise an unlimited despotism. He made 
Romish priests and Jesuits his chief counsellors ; and though 
the Catholics, at this time, composed but a very small propor- 



ENGLAND. 219 

tion of the people of England, yet he undertook the desperate 
attempt to set aside the Protestant religion, and, instead of it, 
to establish the Roman Catholic faith. 

52. The Duke of Monmouth, a natural son of Charles II., 
who, during the preceding reign, had defeated the Scottish 
Covenanters at Bothwell Bridge, having now excited a rebel- 
lion, with a view to seize the crown, was defeated, taken pris- 
oner, and beheaded. The most inhuman rigor was exercised 
against those who favored him. The atrocious chief justice, 
Jeffreys, the most noted as an unscrupulous and profligate 
judge in English history, exercised the most unrelenting 
cruelty. He gloried in his barbarity, and boasted that he 
had hanged more men than any other judge since the time of 
William the Conqueror ; and his bloody career was styled by 
James, with unfeeling jocularity, " Jeffreys' campaign." 

53. The efforts of James, in favor of the Catholic religion, 
were, for a considerable time, attended with success. But 
having caused seven bishops to be committed to the Tower 
for refusing to read a declaration to suspend the laws against 
popery, the passive spirit of the nation disappeared, and a 
general indignation was roused. William, Prince of Orange, 
who had married Mary, the eldest daughter of James, was in- 
vited over, and landed at Toroay, with an army, in order to 
assume the government. 

54. The principal nobility and officers soon joined his stand- 
ard, and James, being deserted by the people, and even by his 
own children, escaped to France, where he passed the remain- 
der of his life. A Convention-Parliament declared the king's 
flight an abdication, and settled the crown upon William III. 
and Mary. This event is styled by British writers the glorious 
revolution of 1688. 

55. The British constitution now became, in many impor- 
tant points, fixed and determined. The Protestant succession 
was secured ; religious toleration granted ; and Presbyterianism 
reestablished in Scotland. A declaration was made, fixing the 
rights of the subject, and the prerogative of the king. Some 
of the most important articles are the following: — 1. The 
king cannot suspend the laws or their execution. 2. He can- 
not levy money without the consent of parliament. 3. The 
subjects have a right to petition the crown. 4. A standing 
army cannot be kept in time of peace but with the consent of 
parliament. 5. Elections and parliamentary debates must be 
free, and parliaments must be frequently assembled. 

56. Archbishop Sancroft, seven other bishops, and a con- 
siderable number of the clergy, who held the doctrines of pas- 



220 ENGLAND. 

sive obedience and the divine right of kings and bishops, look- 
ing upon James as still their lawful king, refused to take the 
oath of allegiance to William, and were deprived of their sta- 
tions. From this circumstance they were styled Non-jurors, 
High- Churchmen, and Jacobites. 

57. Ireland still adhered to James, and the parliament of 
that country declared William an usurper. Being assisted by 
Louis XIV. of France, James landed with some French forces 
in Ireland, where he was joined by a large army ; but he was 
defeated by William at the river Boyne, and the country sub- 
mitted to the new king. A large fleet, which Louis XIV. had 
prepared in favor of James, was destroyed by Admiral Rus- 
sell, off Cape la Hogue ; and by the peace of Ryswick, which 
followed (1697), the title of William to the crown was ac- 
knowledged. 

58. William was a man of feeble constitution, but of dis- 
tinguished talents, especially in war, to which his taste strongly 
inclined him ; and he was esteemed one of the greatest com- 
manders of his age. He was rather fitted to command respect 
than affection, as he excelled more in the severer, than in the 
milder, virtues, being wholly devoted to business, and his man- 
ners being cold, grave, and reserved : he was a firm friend to 
civil and religious liberty ; but he was less popular with Jjis 
subjects than some other sovereigns of far less merit. Mary, 
his queen, and partner of the throne, who died seven years be- 
fore him, was a woman distinguished for her virtues. 

59. On the death of William, the crown devolved upon 
Anne (1702), the second daughter of James II., who was mar- 
ried to George, Prince of Denmark. She was respected for 
her virtues, and she has been honored by the appellation of 
" Good Queen Anne " ; though, according to Lord Mahon, 
" she was a very weak woman, full of prejudices, fond of flat- 
tery, — always blindly guided by some female favorite." Her 
reign was distinguished not only for military achievements, but 
also for eminent attainments in philosophy and literature ;• and 
is sometimes styled the Augustan age of England. 

60. In the first year of this reign, Great Britain, Germany, 
and Holland, in alliance with each other, declared war against 
France. The Duke of Marlborough, one of the greatest com- 
manders of modern times, was appointed generalissimo of the 
allied army ; and the imperial general was the celebrated 
Prince Eugene. In this great contest, the Allies had greatly 
the advantage, effectually checked the ambition and encroach- 
ments of Louis XIV., and gained the splendid victories of 
Blenheim (1704), Ramillies(ll06), Oudenarde (1708), and 



ENGLAND. 221 

Malplaquet (1709). The war was terminated by the peace 
of Utrecht, in 1713. 

61. An important event of this reign was the constitutional 
union beticeen England and Scotland (1706), which put a 
period to the contests which had harassed both countries, and 
included them under one common title of Great Britain. 

62. The party names of Whigs and Tories, which are still 
used to designate parties in England, first became common in 
the reign of Charles II. The Whigs were advocates for the 
rights of the people ; the Tories favored those of the crown. 
The accession of William and Mary was advocated chiefly by 
the Whigs. During the reign of Anne, parties ran high ; the 
nation was thrown into a ferment by the preaching of Dr. 
Sacheverell, who inculcated the Tory principle of passive obe- 
dience ; and, towards the close of the reign, the Tories sup- 
planted the Whigs in the queen's favor, and came into power. 



SECTION IX. 

House of Brunswick : — George I. ; George II. ; George 
III. ; George IV. ; William IV. ; Victoria. 

1. On the death of Queen Anne (1714), George I., Elector 
of Hanover, succeeded to the crown, in the 55th year of his 
age. Before he ascended the throne, he had acquired some 
reputation as a politician and a general. He was plain in his 
manners, and not of elevated character or taste ; but he was a 
man of great application to business ; and his reign was pacific 
and prosperous. Some faults in his government were attributed 
to a venal ministry ; and he was esteemed, to the end of his 
life, in his views and conduct, much more the Elector of Han- 
over than the King of England. 

2. The two parties which had long divided the kingdom 
now, for a time, changed their titles, the Whigs being styled 
Hanoverians, and the Tories Jacobites. The former, being 
strenuous advocates for the accession of George, received in 
return from him favor and support, and were restored to 
power. This circumstance alienated and enraged the Tories 
to such a degree, that many of them took part with the Pre- 
tender, son of James II., who was proclaimed king in Scot- 
land, and made an effort to obtain the crown ; but the rebellion 
was suppressed, and the leaders executed. 

3. A pacific reign, like that of George I., furnishes few 
events of importance in history. One, however, of disastrous 

19* 



222 ENGLAND. 

consequences, occurred, called the South Sea Scheme, a base 
imposture, by which it was proposed to diminish the burden of 
the national debt by lowering the interest. It gave a great 
shock to public credit, and involved thousands in ruin. 

4. George II., who succeeded his father in the 44th year of 
his age, was an able general, of great personal courage, but 
was too fond of war, and delighted in military parade. His 
temper was violent, his talents respectable, though little culti- 
vated by education, and his internal administration generally 
equitable and popular ; but his private character was licentious, 
and the morals of the court, during his reign, were very cor- 
rupt. His partialities in favor of his continental dominions 
are represented as still stronger than those of his father, and 
he has been censured for involving Great Britain in expensive 
wars on account of the interests of the electorate of Hanover. 

5. The most prominent person in the administration, during 
a considerable portion of the reign of George I., and during 
the former part of that of George II., was Sir Robert Walpole, 
a man whose policy was pacific, and who was distinguished 
for his talents, and not less so for the system of corruption and 
venality which he practised while in office. 

6. The military operations of this reign were extensive and 
numerous ; and the British arms were, for the most part, tri- 
umphant. Charles VI., Emperor of Germany, who died in 
1740, was succeeded in his dominions by his daughter, the 
celebrated Maria Theresa, who was married to Francis of 
Lorraine. But Charles, the Elector of Bavaria, asserted his 
claim to the throne, and, by the aid of Louis XV., was elected 
emperor. 

7. This gave rise to a war, which involved the principal 
states of Europe, called the war of the Austrian Succession ; 
during which the Allies, under George II, defeated the French 
in the battle of Dettingen (1743); and the French, under 
Marshal Saxe, routed the Allies at Fontenoy (1745). Great 
Britain was the principal support of Maria Theresa, and by 
the peace of Aix-la-Chapelle, in 1748, her claim to the throne 
was confirmed. 

8. While George II. was absent on the Continent, at the head 
of the British army, Charles Edward, the young Pretender, 
assisted by Louis XV. of France, made an effort to recover 
the throne of his ancestors. Having landed in Scotland, he 
put himself at the head of an army, and defeated the royal 
forces in the battles of Preston-Pans and Falkirk; but was 
afterwards entirely defeated by the Duke of Cumberland, in 
the decisive battle of Culloden (1746). This was the last 



ENGLAND. 223 

battle that has been fought on the soil of Great Britain, and it 
terminated the last effort of the Stuart family to reascend the 
throne, which had been forfeited by the most egregious folly, 
and the most flagitious attempts. 

9. In the latter part of this reign, the war between Great 
Britain and France was renewed, and in its progress the British 
took Louisburg, Fort du Quesne, Ticonderoga, Crown Point, 
Niagara, and finally, under the command of General Wolfe, 
they gained possession of the city of Quebec. These successes 
were followed by the surrender of all Canada on the part of 
the French to the English, in 1763. During these operations 
in America, the British also made extensive conquests in India. 

10. During the reign of George II., Great Britain made great 
progress in wealth and general improvement. The national 
debt, however, was more than doubled during the reign ; and 
at the end of the seven years' war, in 1763, it amounted to 
nearly £ 139 ,000,000. This debt was commenced during the 
reign of William and Mary, and, at the end of the reign of 
George III., it amounted to upwards of <£800,000,000. 

11. George II. was succeeded (1760) by his grandson, 
George III., who was the first king of the house of Brunswick 
that was born in England. He commenced his reign at an 
auspicious period, when the arms of Great Britain were trium- 
phant, and the administration able and popular. The war with 
France was, not long afterwards, brought to a close ; and by 
the peace of Paris, Canada, and other territories in North 
America, were confirmed to England. 

12. William Pitt (afterwards Lord Chatham) was at the 
head of the administration during the last years of the pre- 
ceding reign ; and, in the former part of this, he was the most 
prominent public man in the nation. At this period, oppres- 
sive measures were adopted by the British government with re- 
gard to the American Colonies. These Chatham opposed with 
his powerful eloquence : but they were persisted in ; hostilities 
were commenced ; a declaration of the independence of the 
United States was made, and their independence was finally 
acknowledged by Great Britain, in 1783. [See United States.] 

13. The other most important events in the history of Eng- 
land, during this reign, are the extension of the British do- 
minions in India, the Irish rebellion of 1798, the union between 
that country and Great Britain, in 1800, and the various oper- 
ations of the unexampled war which grew out of the French 
Revolution. [See France."] 

14. In 1789, the French revolution broke out, convulsing all 
Europe ; and it was thought to threaten the overthrow of all 



224 ENGLAND. 

established governments. The government of Great Britain, 
alarmed respecting its own safety, embarked zealously in the 
European war, with a view to check the dissemination of dem- 
ocratic principles both at home and abroad. 

15. The system of operations was devised and managed un- 
der the direction of William Pitt, the son of Lord Chatham, 
who was now at the head of the administration. This calam- 
itous war continued to convulse the Continent for 25 years, 
and, during a part of the time, Great Britain alone had all 
Europe arrayed against her. But after various fluctuations of 
failure and success, she came off victorious, yet not without. 
an immense loss of the blood of her subjects, and a vast in- 
rrffise of her national debt. Some of the principal victories, 
which the British obtained during this war, were those of the 
Nile and of Trafalgar, by Nelson; and those of Talavera, 
Salamanca, Vittoria, and Waterloo, by Wellington. 

16. The reign of George III., who died in 1820, was longer 
than that of any other English monarch ; and it forms a dis- 
tinguished period in the history of the kingdom, on account of 
its military events, and the progress of the nation in commerce, 
wealth, and the arts. During the last ten years of his life, he 
was afflicted with insanity to such a degree, as entirely disquali- 
fied him for all business, and the Prince of Wales acted as Re- 
gent. His talents were not brilliant, nor were his views, as a 
statesman, enlarged ; but his private character was exemplary, 
and he was much respected by his subjects. 

17. George III. was succeeded, in 1820, by his son, George 
IV., who was a man of talents and accomplishments, but whose 
life, during both his youth and his manhood, had been marked 
by great prodigality and dissipation ; and there was little in his 
character or his conduct, while a sovereign, to entitle him to 
the affection or respect of his subjects. While a prince, and 
not in power, he connected himself with the opposition, or 
Whigs ; but, both as regent and king, he adhered to the 
Tories, to the neglect of his former friends. 

18. Soon after the accession of George IV., a bill for di- 
vorcing and degrading the queen, Caroline, on charges of 
misconduct, was introduced into the House of Lords, and, after 
being carried by a vote of 108 to 99, it was abandoned ; and 
the queen soon after died. 

19. The Greeks having for some years maintained a sangui- 
nary struggle for independence against the Turks, an inter- 
position in their favor was made by England, France, and 
Russia; and the united fleets of these three powers obtained, 
in 1827, a great victory over the Turkish fleet at Navarino. 



ENGLAND. 225 

20. In 1828, the Corporation and Test Act, which had long 
operated to exclude Catholics and Dissenters from all corporate 
offices, was repealed ; and it was followed, in 1829, by the still 
more important measure of Catholic Emancipation. By this 
act, the laws imposing civil disabilities on Roman Catholics 
were repealed. In addition to these great national measures, 
many other important alterations and improvements were made 
in the laws of Great Britain during the reign of George IV. 
The penal code was improved by rendering punishment more 
certain, and much less sanguinary. 

21. George IV. was succeeded, in 1830, by his brother, the 
Duke of Clarence, with the title of William IV. In about a 
month after his accession, a revolution took place in France, 
which caused the dethronement of Charles X. A wide-spread 
feeling of uneasiness and disaffection was felt in England, and 
the country was alarmed by numerous incendiary fires. For 
many years the subject of a reform of the representation of 
the people in the House of Commons had been much agitated ; 
and it was now more loudly called for than ever before. On 
the meeting of the new parliament, the Duke of Wellington, 
the prime minister, unexpectedly expressed himself strongly 
against any reform ; but the duke and his colleagues, not find- 
ing themselves supported by a majority of the House of Com- 
mons, resigned, and were succeeded by a Whig ministry, with 
Earl Grey at the head. 

22. On the 1st of March, 1831, Lord John Russell, as the 
organ of the cabinet, brought into parliament the first Reform 
Bill ; but this bill, and also a second one, the ministry failed to 
carry through both Houses ; but a third bill was, after a violent 
struggle, carried and enacted into a law, in June, 1832. This 
important measure, which renders the House of Commons a 
body much more effectually representing the people, occupied 
the greater part of the first two years of the reign of William, 
to the exclusion of almost all other measures. 

23. The first parliament, elected under the new system, as- 
sembled in January, 1833 ; and the reform of the representa- 
tion was soon followed by the reform of the Irish church, the 
abolition of slavery in the British colonies, with a compensa- 
tion of .£20,000,000 paid to the planters ; the reform of the 
poor-laws ; and the renewal, with important provisions, of the 
East India Charter. 

24. William IV. was succeeded, in 1837, by Queen Vic- 
toria, the daughter of the Duke of Kent, the fourth son of 
George III. ; and she was married, in 1840, to Prince Albert 
of Coburg. 



226 ENGLAND. 

25. The principal military operations of the British, since 
the commencement of the reign of Victoria, have been the war 
in the northwestern part of India with the Afghans, which was 
terminated by the annexation of the territory of Sinde to the 
British East India possessions ; and the war with China, which 
was caused by the resistance of the Chinese to the trade in 
opium. After various successes on the part of the English, 
a treaty of peace was concluded, in 1842, the Chinese being 
compelled to pay 21 millions of dollars, to cede the island of 
Hong Kong, and to open five of their ports to British com- 
merce. 

26. Some of the most important recent acts of the British 
government are the reduction of letter postage to one penny, 
the repeal of the corn-laws, which restricted the free importa- 
tion of corn, and the repeal of the navigation laws. 

27. One of the greatest modern improvements in Great 
Britain is the construction of railroads throughout all parts of 
the country. The first railroad on which locomotive steam- 
engines were used for the conveyance of passengers, was the 
Manchester and Liverpool Railroad, which was opened for use 
in 1830. The number of miles of railroad in actual use in 
Great Britain and Ireland, in 1849, amounted to 5,447. 

28. For some years past the public mind in England, Ire- 
land, and Scotland has been much agitated in relation to their 
respective ecclesiastical establishments. In England loud com- 
plaints are made of the overgrown revenues of the Established 
Church, and the very unequal and unjust distribution of them ; 
and of the oppressed condition of the numerous classes of Dis- 
senters. 

29. " In Ireland," as is observed by Sir Henry Hardinge, 
" five sixths of the property are Protestant, while five sixths 
of the population are Catholic." Yet the established religion 
is that of the Church of England, with a richly endowed clergy, 
while the Catholic clergy derive their support from voluntary 
contributions and from fees from their people, who are, for 
the most part, extremely poor. 

30. In Scotland a strenuous effort was made to establish the 
right of congregations to choose their ministers ; but the advo- 
cates of this measure, after a long contest, failed of their 
object ; and in 1843, about 460 out of somewhat more than 
1,200 ministers of the Established Church, " seceded in order 
to free themselves from the interference of the civil courts in 
ecclesiastical matters." The seceders, consisting of the minis- 
ters and such of the laity as followed them, a large and re- 
spectable body, now form the " Free Church of Scotland." 



ENGLAND. 



227 



Table of the History op England. — No. 1. 


From the Accession of Egbert 


, 827, to the Death of Richard ILL, 1485. 


A. D. 




Kings. 






800 


— 






















Saxon Family. 




27 


Egbert 


11 


First sole monarch of England : end of the 




38 


Ethel wolf 


20 


Saxon Heptarchy. 


9th 


57 


Ethelbald 


3 


f The Danes begin their hostile attacks, and 




60 


Ethelbert 


6 


< continue, for more than two centuries, to 




66 


Ethelred I. 


5 


C scourge the country. 




72 


Alfred 


28 


An illustrious king ; has a prosperous reign. 


900 


_ 
















00 


Edward the Elder 


25 


The Danes defeated. 




25 


Athelstan 


16 


Defeats the Danes, Welsh, Scots, &c. 




41 


Edmund I. 


7 


Murdered by the robber Leolf. 


10th 


48 


Edred 


7 


A slave of superstition, and dupe of Dunstan. 


55 


Edwy 


4 






59 


Edgar 


16 


Dunstan archbishop : Wolves exterminated. 




75 


Edward tlie Martyr 


3 


Assassinated by order of Elfrida. 




78 


Ethelred II. 


37 


Massacre of the Danes at the festival St. Brice. 


1000 


— 




— 










15 


Sweyn, Dane 


£ 


Conquers England, and is proclaimed king. 




16 


Edmund II., Ironside 


l 


Defeated by the Danes, and murdered. 
Danish Kings. 




17 


Canute the Great 


19 


Completes the conquest of England. 




36 


Harold I., Harefoot 


4 






39 


Canute II. 


3 


The power of the Danes terminates. 


lltk 








Saxon Line restored. 




41 


Edward, Confessor 


24 


First king that touched for the King's Evil. 




65 


Harold II. 


1 


Defeated and slain at Hastings. 
Norman Family. 




66 


William, Conqueror 


21 


Conquers England ; introduces the Feudal Sys- 
tem and Norman Language. 


1100 


87 


William II. 


13 


Is shot while hunting. Archbishop Anselm. 












00 


Henry I. 


35 


Usurps the throne of his brother Robert. 




35 


Stephen (of Blois) 


19 


Usurps, and has contests with Matilda. 
Family of Plantagenet. 


12th 


54 


Henry n. 


35 


Conquers Ireland; has long and severe contests 
with Becket ; rebellion of his sons. 




89 


Richard 1. 


10 


Engages in a Crusade, and defeats Saladin. 




99 


John, Lackland 


17 


Foreign dominions lost : Magna Charta. 


1200 


— 




— 










16 


Henry III. 


56 


Battles of Lewes and Evesham : Montfort ; 


13th 








First House of Commons. 


1300 


72 


Edward I. 


35 


Subdues Wales ; battles of Falkirk, &c. 












7 


Edward II. 


20 


Defeated by the Scots at Bannockburn. 




27 


Edward III. 


50 


A splendid reign : Chivalry in its zenith : Vic- 
tories of Cressy, Poitiers, &c. : Edward the 


lith 








Black Prince. 




77 


Richard II. 


22 


Deposed and murdered. Wickliffe ; Chaucer. 
Branch of Lancaster. 




99 


Henry IV. 


14 


Gains the throne instead of the rightful heir. 


1400 


— 




— 










13 


Henry V. 


9 


Victory ofAgincourt. Oldcastle burnt. 




22 


Henry VI. 


39 


Civil wars of the White and Red Roses ; York 
and Lancaster. 


\5th 








Branch of York. 




61 


Edward IV. 


22 


Battles of Towton, Barnet, and Teicksbury. 




83 


Edward V. 




Murdered after a reign of 74 days. 




83 


Richard III. 


2 


Defeated and slain at Bosworth. 



The figures on the left hand of the kings, in these tables, denote the commencement of 
their reigns. Thus it appears that Egbert began to reign in 827, and reigned 11 years. 



228 



ENGLAND. 



Table or the IIistoiiy of England. — No. 2. 
From Henry VII., 1485, to Victoria. 



A. D 

1400 

iw/* 
1500 



16th 



1600 



Mth 



1700 



19///, 



1800 



YMh 



85 



Kings 



Henry VII. 



20 



30 



87 



Henry VIII. 



Edward VI. 

Mary 

Elizabeth 



Jamos I. 
Charles I. 

Cromwell 
Charles II. 

Tames N. 

William in. & Mary 



Anno 

< ;■-» "<-'■'■ i. 
George II. 

Coorgc III. 



< taorge iv. 



William IV. 



Victoria 



21 



US 



II) 



House of Tudor. 
Marrios Elizabeth, daughter of Edward IV., unit- 
in,", I In- 1 louses of York tic Lancaster ; commerce 
encouraged; the Feudal System declines. 



A cruel tyrant; victory of Flodden by Surrey; 
Introduces the lie formation ; 2 queens divorced, 
tWO beheaded ; Wolse.y disgraced; Up. Fisher, 
Sir T. More, Cromwell, and Surrey beheaded. 

Promotes the lie formation, aided by Cranmer. 

Restores Calk, relig.; marries Philip II of Spain ; 
Jane drey beheaded ; many Protestants burnt. 

I las an auspicious reign, assisted by Bacon, Jiur- 

high. Watsiiigha>n,&c,.; agriculture, commerce, 

and literature Moorish ; the Church of England 
established: Mary, Q.ueen of Scots, beheaded; 
the Spanish Armada destroyed. 



House of Stuart. 
Unites the crowns of England ami Scotland; 
the (lunpowder Plot defeated ; the Bible trans- 
lated ; tho Puritans settle at Plymouth, Mass. 

Despotic; attempts to raise money without con- 
sent, of Parliament; civil war rages; Strafford 
ami Laud beheaded; Charles defeated and be- 
headed (1(54!)) ; the Commonwealth bog ; .as. 

Dissolves the Long Parliament, and becomes 
ProtectOT, Navigation Act. Dutch war. 

Profligate; his reign injurious to liberty and mo- 
rality} Plague \\w\ FVein London; Clarendon 

banished; Russell and A.lg, Sydney executed. 
Attempts to establish the Catholic religion, and 

Is Obliged to abdicate; hence the Revolution. 
Constitution continued : battle,! of Boyneatld La 

llogue: Peace of Ryswick : Nat. Debt begin 



Marlborough & Eugene's victories of Blenheim, 

Ramilliea, Mcilplaquet, Sec: Literal, flourishes. 

House of Brunswick or Hanover. 

Rebellion In favor of the Pretender suppressed: 
South Sea Scheme. Walpole minister. 

The Pretender overthrown at Culloden : War 
with France carried on in Europe, Asia, and 

America : Battle of Dcttingcn : (,'oni|. of Canada, 

A long and eventful reign: Hostilities with, and 
loss of, the American Colonies : long war with 
France, terminated by the battle of Waterloo ; 
Possessions in India, greatly extended : Com- 
merce and tho arts flourish ; but the National 
Debt greatly increased. Regency 1811. 



A Bill Of Pains and Penalties brought into Par- 
liament against the Queen (Caroline), but re- 
linquished: Battle Of Ndvarino } Corporation 
and Test Acts repealed : ('a/hot. Emancipation. 

The Duhe Of Wellington's Ministry succeeded 

by that of aarlOrey: the Reform Bill passes. 
Irish Church Reform: Colonial Slavery abol- 
ished : East India Charter renewed. 
Married to Prince Albert. Melbourne, Peel, 
ami Russell, prime ministers. 



ENGLAND. 



229 



Chronological Table of English Literati; BE 



A. D. 
1500 



16th 



1600 



Statesmen and 

Commanders. 



Wolsey 
T. Cromwell 
Somerset 
Gardiner 
s. Cabot 
N. Bacon 
Leicester 
Walsingham 
Drake 

Hurlei-'h 



17 th 



1700 



Essex 

Raleigh 

Strafford 

I'yrn 

I (ampden 
Falkland 
Blake 

(/Torn well 

Etlarvell 

Monk 

Clarendon 

Shaftesbury 

Russell 

Alg. Sidney 

Temple 



18/ A 



1800 



lath 



Cavendish 
Godolphin 
Somen 
Marlborough 

Walpole 

Bolingbroke 
Vernon 

Wolff; 

Boscawen 

Anson 

Cumberland 

Lyttelton 
Chatham 
Cook 
Rodney 

North 

Mansfield 

Hurkc 
AmhorHt 



Nelson 

Pitt 
Fox 

Kornilly 

Grattan 
Erskine 
Canning 

flu ikiHHon 

Eldon 

Grey 



Poeta. 



! 

18 
41 
43 
43 
43 
67 
r>8 

7^ 
70 
72 

83 
S3 
S3 



Skelton 

Wyal.t 

Earl of Surrey 

Hey wood 

Gascoigne 

It. Greene 

Marlowe 

Southwell 

Peele 

Spbnsbb 



Divines. 



Tyndale 

Ridley 

Latimer 

Cbanmbr 

Card, Polo 

Coverdale 

J. Jewel 

Knox; 

J. Fox 

Hooker 



Miscellaneous. 5 



F, Beaumont 
SHAK8PEABE 
.1 Fletcbef 
Herbert 

Ben Jonson 
Massinger 

G. Sandys 
Quarles 

Donne 

Cowley 

MILTON 

Roscommon 

Otway 

Waller 
Butler 



Andrew.! 

CnillingwortH 

Usher 

Walton 

'I'd. Fuller 

Taylor 

Harrow 

,1. Owen 

i icighton 

Pearson 

rr. More 

Bunyan 

Cud worth 

Baxter 

Tillotson 



7 
12 

ie 

22 

46 

Bl 

67 

69 

61 

62 

65 

63 

78 

79 

92 

92 

93 

97 

98 



Dhviikn 
Fan | u liar 
Parnell 

I to we 

Prior 
Congreve 

( ',;> y 

Pops 
Thomson 

Collin:! 

A. Ramsay 

Shenstone 

Churchill 

foung 

Akenside 

Gray 

Goldsmith 

Burns 

CoWI'BR. 



1 

7 

17 

is 

21 
28 
32 

41 

48 
66 
68 
63 

64 

<;r, 
70 
71 
71 
Ofi 



Howe 

Lull 

IVf . Henry 

Burnet 

South 
Clarke 

Watts 
Doddridge 
Butler 
Berkeley 

Sherlock 

Lardner 

WhiLefield 
Warhurton 
Lowth 

We iley 
Price 
Campbell 
Blair 



Beattie 

H. K. White 
Grahams 

Shelley 

liVKON 

Crabbe 

W. Scott 

Coleridge 

Southey 

Campbell 



Priestley 
Paley 
Horsley 
Porteus 
Watson 
Th. Scott 
S Hall 
a. Clarke 

Arnold 
J. Foster 



'I'll. More 

Wya.lt 

Tli. Klyot 

Leland 

Cheke 

R, Ascham 

Holingshed 

Buchanan 

Tunscr 

P, Sidney 



Napier 
BACON 

Camden 

Coke 

Wol.l.on 

Burton 
Selden 
Harvey 

Hale 

Harrington 

Hobbes 

Th. Browne 

Dugdale 

Sydenham 

Boyle 

LOCKE 
Addison 

Sir C, Wren 

NEWTON 
De Foe 

Swift 

Fielding 

Richardson 

Sterne 

Hume 

Garrick 
Blackstone 

JoiIN.SON 

Ad. Smith 

Hunter 

Robertson 

Gibbon 
Wm. JoncH 

Reid 



4 Sheridan 

r> Cavendish 

8 Playfeir 

8 B. D. Clarke 
16 Herschel 
21 Mitford 

:;i Stewart 

321 Davy 

42 Mackintosh 

44 Wilberforco 



17 
20 
28 
34 
39 
39 
64 
r>? 
78 
77 
79 
82 
80 
8!) 
91 

4 
19 
23 

27 
31 
46 
64 
61 
68 
78 
7'.) 
HI) 

84 
90 
93 
93 

04 
94 

\)7 

r, 

10 

19 

22 
22 
27 

2 ', 

29 
32 



20 



230 ENGLAND. 

Remarks on thb Tables of English History and Lite- 
rature. 

1. Some of the most eminent sovereigns who have occupied the throne 
of England are the following: — Alfred, William the Conqueror, Henry 
II., Edward I., Edward III., Henry VII., Elizabeth, and William III. 

2. The cause of English freedom has been most effectually promoted 
during some of the weakest and least prosperous reigns; as those of 
John, Henry III., Charles I., and James II. 

3. Some of the most important political changes, or revolutions, that 
have taken place in England since the Norman Conquest, are the grant- 
ing of the Magna Charta, or the Great Charter, in the time of King 
John ; the establishment of the House of Commons in the time of Henry 
III. ; the Reformation in religion in the reign of Henry VIII. ; the union 
of the crowns of England and Scotland at the commencement of the 
reign of James I. ; the civil war between Charles I. and the English 
Parliament, which issued in the defeat and execution of the king, and the 
establishment of the Commonwealth under Cromwell ; the restoration 
of the monarchy under Charles II. ; the dethronement or abdication of 
James II. ; the accession of William and Mary, and the establishment 
of the principles of the Constitution (1688) ; the legislative union be- 
tween England and Scotland in the reign of Q,ueen Anne ; the union 
of Ireland with Great Britain in the reign of George III. (1800) ; and the 
Reform of Parliament in the reign of William IV. (1832). 



1 . Chaucer, the most celebrated of the early English poets, flourished 
in the latter part of the 14th century, in the reigns of Edward III. and 
Richard II. ; but English classical literature may be considered as begin- 
ning in the latter half of the 16th century, during the reign of Elizabeth, 
with Hooker, a learned divine, Spenser and Shakspeare, eminent poets, 
and Bacon, the philosopher, who also lived through the reign of James I. 
The reign of Queen Anne was particularly distinguished for men of ge- 
nius, among whom were Newton, Addison, Pope, and- Swift. 

2. Wolsey and Gardiner, who are placed in the left-hand column, were 
both ecclesiastics and bishops, though more distinguished as statesmen 
than as divines. Of those who are placed in the right-hand column, Sir 
Thomas More, the author of " Utopia," &c, and Lord Bacon, the phi- 
losopher, were both chancellors of England ; Sir Matthew Hale was an 
eminent judge ; Sir Edward Coke, a great lawyer : — Sir Philip Sidney, 
the author of " Arcadia," &c, Harrington, the author of " Oceana," 
&c, Sir Henry Wotton, John Selden, and Sir William Jones, all eminent 
scholars, were also distinguished in political life. 

3. Some who are classed in the Table among statesmen and com- 
manders are also distinguished as authors, as Raleigh, Clarendon, Boling- 
broke, Lyttleton, Temple, Marvell, Algernon Sydney, Burke, &c. ; some 
classed among the divines and miscellaneous authors are also noted as 
poets, as Addison, Watts, Swift, &c. ; and some of the poets are also em- 
inent as prose writers. 

4. Shakspeare, the great English dramatist, is eminently distinguished 
for genius ; Milton is regarded as the greatest epic poet of modern times ; 
Lord Bacon pointed out the true mode of philosophizing; the works of 
Newton formed an era in natural philosophy and astronomy, as did those 
of Locke in the philosophy of the human mind. 

5. There are many names of much merit in English literature, in ad- 
dition to those contained in the Table. 



EUROPEAN STATES. 231 



EUROPEAN STATES. 



The history of the other States of Europe is less interesting 
and important, especially to American readers, than that of 
England and France. A brief sketch is here given of the 
history of several of the other states ; and also a tabular view 
of the succession of the sovereigns of some of the most im- 
portant of them. 



SCOTLAND. 



1. The pretensions of Scotland to a regular succession of 
kings, from so remote a period as the time of Alexander the 
Great, are not supported by any credible evidence. — When 
Britain was abandoned by the Romans, A. D. 410, Scotland 
was divided among a number of hostile tribes, the principal 
of which were the Scots and Picts ; but, between the years 
838 and 843, Kenneth II. subdued the latter, and became king 
of all Scotland. 

2. Various contests took place between Scotland and the 
kings of England, the most memorable of which happened in 
the reign of Edward 7., who conquered the country ; but he 
found able antagonists in the heroic Sir William Wallace and 
Rohert Bruce, the latter of whom defeated the English in the 
decisive battle of Bannockburn, and established himself on the 
throne. 

3. James VI, the infant son of the celebrated Queen Mary, 
was proclaimed king, after her resignation in 1567, and suc- 
ceeded to the crown of England in 1603 ; since which period 
the two countries have been governed by one and the same 
monarch ; and this connection was rendered perpetual by the 
union of the two kingdoms, in 1706, during the reign of Queen 
Anne. Since that period, the representative peers of Scotland 
have formed a part of the British House of Lords ; and Scot- 
land has also sent members to the British House of Commons. 



232 EUROPEAN STATES. 



GERMANY. 



1. In 843, the Empire of the West was divided into three 
monarchies, France, Germany, and Italy ; and at the close of 
the reign of Charles the Fat, in 887, the imperial dignity was 
transferred entirely to Germany, which, in European history, 
is styled, by way of eminence, the Empire, and its subjects, 
the Imperialists. During more than half of the 10th century, 
it was governed, successively, by two able sovereigns, Henry 
the Fowler, and his son, Otho the Great. The latter reunited 
Italy to the empire, and was the greatest sovereign of the 
age. 

2. The reign of Henry IV., sometimes called the Great, 
during the last half of the 11th century, is memorable for his 
quarrel with, and humiliating submission to, pope Gregory VII. 
(Hildebrand). The election of Conrad III. gave rise to two 
celebrated factions, the Guelphs and Ghibelines, which harassed 
Germany and Italy during three centuries ; and during this pe- 
riod the imperial authority declined, and the papal increased. 
The Ghibelines were attached to the emperor ; the Guelphs to 
the pope. 

3. The reign of Frederick I, surnamed Barbarossa, or Red- 
heard, was signalized by his contests with Pope Alexander III, 
and by a crusade to the Holy Land, during which he was 
drowned in a small river in Cilicia, in 1190. — After the reign 
of Conrad IV. succeeded a period of contention and confusion, 
called the Great Interregnum, which, after continuing 19 years, 
was terminated by the election of Rodolph, Count of Hapsburg, 
in Switzerland, to the imperial throne, in 1273. 

4. The principal events in the history of the latter emperors 
of the Franconian line, and of all the princes of the Swabian 
line, were produced by contests between the popes and the 
emperors. The grounds of these contests were, 1st, the right 
claimed by the emperors of nominating to vacant bishoprics, 
and the form of investing the bishops with the temporal pos- 
sessions of their sees ; 2d, the claims of the popes to hold their 
possessions in Italy, independent of the emperors ; 3d, the 
claim of the popes to supreme dominion, both temporal and 
spiritual, in every part of the Christian world. 

5. The reign of Louis IV. was much disturbed by contests 
with pope John XXII. The emperor was excommunicated 
by the pope, and his election declared void ; and the pope was 
also deposed by the emperor. The princes of the empire as- 
sembled at Frankfort, in 1338, and established the famous con- 
stitution, called the Pragmatic Sanction, by which it was de- 



EUROPEAN STATES. 233 

termined that the pope had no right to approve or reject the 
election of an emperor. 

6. The reign of Sigis?nund is memorable for the meeting of 
the famous Council of Constance, in order to determine the 
contest respecting the papal authority. John Huss and Jerome 
of Prague were condemned (1415) by this council, and de- 
livered over to the secular power to be burnt as heretics. 
Their adherents in Bohemia took up arms in defence of their 
religion, and, under their famous leader, Zisca, resisted Sigis- 
mund in a war of 16 years. 

7. Maximilian I. (1477) acquired by marriage the sov- 
ereignty of the Netherlands, divided Germany into circles, in- 
stituted the Imperial Chamber and the Aulic Council, and by 
these means established a perpetual peace among the separate 
states, and laid the foundation of the subsequent grandeur of 
the empire. 

8. Charles V. [Charles I. of Spain], grandson of Maximil- 
ian, was the greatest and most powerful sovereign of his age. 
After a reign of nearly 40 years, during most of which he was 
engaged in war, chiefly with his great rival, Francis I. of 
France, and raised the house of Austria to its highest splendor, 
he voluntarily resigned the crown of Spain to his son, Philip 
II, in 1556, left the throne of Germany to his brother, Ferdi- 
nand, and retired to the monastery of St. Just, in Spain, in 
order to devote himself to the privacy of monastic life, and 
forget the cares of government and the temptations of the 
world. During his reign, the Reformation made great progress 
in Germany, which, however, Charles strenuously opposed. 

9. The reigns of Ferdinand II. and Ferdinand III. were 
signalized by the Thirty years'' ivar, which commenced in 
1618, and was terminated by the peace of Westphalia, in 
1648. This war grew chiefly out of the religious dissensions 
of the 16th century : on one side was the Protestant confed- 
eracy, styled the Evangelical Union ; and, on the other, the 
Catholic League. It issued in securing an equal establishment 
of the Protestant and Catholic religions. 

10. By the death of Charles VI, the male line of the house 
of Hapsburg became extinct ; and the circumstance of there 
being two claimants to the throne gave rise to a war, styled 
the war of the Austrian Succession, which was terminated by 
the peace of Aix-la-Chapelle, in 1748, by which the claim of 
the celebrated Maria Theresa was acknowledged, and her 
consort, Francis of Lorraine, was invested with the imperial 
dignity. 

11. In 1806, Francis II., who had two years before assumed 
the title of hereditary Emperor of Austria, solemnly resigned 

20* 



234 EUROPEAN STATES. 

his title as Emperor of Germany. Thus ended the German 
empire, after having lasted, from the commencement of the 
Western Empire under Charlemagne, 1006 years. 

12. The imperial government was hereditary during the 
Carlovingian dynasty ; afterwards, always elective ; but the 
mode of election was different at different periods. At first, 
the emperor was chosen by the people at large ; then by the 
nobility and principal officers of state ; afterwards, by the five 
following great officers, namely, the chancellor, the great mar- 
shal, the great chamberlain, the great butler, and the great 
master of the palace. At first they assumed the right of only 
proposing candidates to the general body of electors ; but at 
length confined the whole right of election to themselves. — 
After much discontent, this was finally settled in the reign of 
Charles IV., by the celebrated constitution, called the Golden 
Bull, which fixed the right of election in four spiritual and 
three temporal electors, namely, the Archbishops of Mentz, of 
Cologne, and of Treves ; the King of Bohemia ; the Count 
Palatine, the Duke of Saxony, and the Margrave of Branden- 
burg. At subsequent periods, the Dukes of Bavaria and of 
Brunswick-Lunenburg were advanced to the electoral dignity. 

13. In 1848, a grand national congress, composed of 500 
deputies from all parts of Germany, assembled at Frankfort- 
on-the-Maine, with the design of framing a constitution, and 
uniting all the German states under one confederated govern- 
ment ; but the object was not carried into effect. 



AUSTRIA. 



1. Austria, which was erected into an hereditary empire in 
1804, is one of the leading states in Europe ; and it has been 
one of the great pillars for sustaining arbitrary or absolute 
government. Prince Metternich, an able statesman, late prime 
minister of the empire, had for about 40 years the principal 
direction of the public affairs, and was a zealous supporter 
of arbitrary power. 

2. The revolution which, in 1848, drove Louis Philippe from 
the throne of France, immediately caused an insurrection at 
Vienna, and swept Metternich from the seat of power which 
he had long held. The emperor Ferdinand soon fled from 
Vienna, and, not long after, abdicated in favor of his nephew, 
Francis Joseph. 



EUROPEAN STATES. 235 

3. The Austrian dominions in the north of Italy soon re- 
volted against Austria, and were assisted by Charles Albert, 
King of Sardinia. A sanguinary contest ensued ; but the Aus- 
trians, under the command of Marshal Radetsky, were tri- 
umphant. 

4. The kingdom of Hungary, which forms a large part of 
the Austrian empire, though it has long had a distinct constitu- 
tion, soon afterwards revolted from Austria, on account of its 
constitution being violated by the latter, declared independence 
(1849), and established a provisional government, with Kossuth 
at its head. 

5. The emperor Nicholas of Russia interposed in favor of 
Austria, sent a powerful army into Hungary, and, after a san- 
guinary and desolating war, the main division of the Hungarian 
army, under Gorgey, was compelled to surrender to Prince 
Paskiewitch, the Russian commander, in August, 1849. 

6. In March, 1849, the emperor of Austria issued a liberal 
constitution, which guarantees political and religious liberty, 
freedom of the press and speech, and a legislative body, com- 
posed of two houses. 



SPAIN. 

1. In the early part of the 5th century, Spain, after having 
long been in the possession of the Romans, was invaded by 
the Suevi, Vandals, and Alans, who were, ere long, subdued 
by the Visigoths, or Western Goths. In the early part of the 
8th century, the country was invaded by the Moors or Sara- 
cens, who, under their commander Muza, gained, in 713, the 
great battle of Xeres, in which Roderick, the Gothic king, 
was slain. 

2. In a few years, the Moors overran the most of the coun- 
try, which, for some time, was governed by viceroys of the 
Saracen Caliphs ; but, in 755, Abderrahman, of the house of 
Ommiades, established an independent sovereignty, and as- 
sumed the title of Caliph of Cordova, which city he made the 
seat oihis empire, and also of arts and magnificence ; and his 
posterity kept possession of the throne nearly three centuries. 
But the territories of the Moors were soon divided into a num- 
ber of separate sovereignties, of which the most considerable, 
in the earlier part of their residence in Spain, was the caliphate 
of Cordova, and, in the latter part, the caliphate of Granada. 

3. When Spain was first invaded and conquered by the 



236 EUROPEAN STATES. 

Moors, the Gothic, or, as they were now styled, the Christian 
forces, retired into the Asturias, and, under their leader Pela- 
gio, founded a kingdom in 718 ; and they gradually recovered 
other parts of the country. For several centuries, the history 
of Spain presents a continued struggle between the Christians 
and Moors; and the latter part of the 11th century was illus- 
trated by the exploits of the famous Spanish hero, Don E,od- 
rigo Diaz, Count of Bivar, surnamed the Cid. 

4. Several distinct Christian kingdoms, which subsisted for a 
long period, were established, the most considerable of which 
were Castile and Leon, Arragon, and Navarre. In 1479, Fer- 
dinand II, who had been previously married to Isabella, 
Queen of Castile and Leon, succeeded to the throne of Arra- 
gon, and their kingdoms now became united. Granada, the 
only possession now held by the Moors in Spain, was soon 
after taken (1492); Navarre was subsequently conquered, 
and all Spain became, for the first time, united into one 
monarchy. 

5. The reign of Ferdinand and Isabella forms an eventful 
period in the history of Spain, on account of military exploits, 
the expulsion of the Moors, the union of the country into one 
kingdom, and the discovery of America (1492), which brought 
an immense accession of wealth to the Spanish crown, and laid 
the foundation for vast colonial possessions in this continent. 

6. During the long reigns of Charles I. [Charles V. of Ger- 
many] and Philip II., Spain acted a conspicuous part in the 
affairs of the world, and, on account of her extensive posses- 
sions in both continents, was regarded as the most formidable 
power in Europe ; but, since that period, her comparative con- 
sequence has declined, and she has long held only a secondary 
rank among the European states. The most flourishing period 
of Spanish literature was during the time when the kingdom 
was governed by princes of the house of Austria, in the 16th 
and 17th centuries, 

7. In 1808, Charles IV. was dethroned by Bonaparte, who 
placed on the throne of Spain his brother, Joseph Bonaparte. 
A sanguinary war ensued, which lasted till 1813; and Ferdi- 
nand VII, the son of Charles IV., was established on the 
throne. 

8. Within the space of ten years, from 1811 to 1821, all 
the Spanish colonies on the continent of North and South 
America revolted from Spain, and declared their independ- 
ence. Since that time, the kingdom of Spain has been much 
harassed by civil war and political commotion. 



EUROPEAN STATES. 237 



PORTUGAL. 

1. This kingdom forms the greatest part of what was an- 
ciently called Lusitania ; and its early history is involved with 
that of Spain, it having been successively in subjection to the 
Romans, Suevi, Visigoths, and Moors. 

2. In the contests between the Moors and Christians, Henry, 
Duke of Burgundy, having rendered important services to Al- 
phonso, or Alonzo, King of Castile, was rewarded by him, in 
1094, with that part of Portugal which was not in possession 
of the Moors, to be held with the title of count or earl. He 
was succeeded by his son Alphonso, who gained a signal vic- 
tory over the Moors, at Orique, threw off the Castilian yoke, 
and assumed the title of king, in 1139. 

3. The reign of John I, which began in 1385, is famous for 
his victories over the Castilians, and his expeditions against the 
Moors ; but still more so for the impulse given by Prince Hen- 
ry, the Mariner, to navigation and the progress of discovery, 
a department of enterprise and skill in which the Portuguese 
were, for a long time, unrivalled by any other nation. 

4. The reigns of John II. and Emanuel were distinguished 
for important discoveries. During the reign of the former, 
Bartholomew Diaz reached the Cape of Good Hope, in 1486 ; 
and during that of the latter, Vasco de Gama, in 1497, doubled 
the same Cape, and sailed to India. From that period, the 
trade between that country and Europe was diverted from its 
former channel through the Red Sea and Egypt ; and for many 
years the navigation of the Cape was considered as the exclu- 
sive property of the Portuguese, on the ground of first discov- 
ery ; nor was their monopoly effectually invaded till the rise 
of the Dutch. 

5. The space intervening between the commencement of 
the reign of John I. (1385), and the conquest of Portugal by 
Philip II. of Spain (1580), forms the golden period of the mon- 
archy, — a period which was illustrated by the exploits, both 
in discovery and conquest, of a succession of distinguished 
heroes, and also by the productions of several men of genius 
and learning, among whom the poet Camoens, the author of 
the Lusiad, who died in 1579, holds the first rank. 

6. In 1580, the male line of the royal family of Portugal 
having become extinct, and the kingdom having suffered a 
series of misfortunes, Philip II. of Spain seized upon it, and 
united it to his crown ; but, in 1640, the Spaniards were ex- 
pelled, and John, Duke of Braganza, the presumptive heir, 
was raised to the throne, in whose family it still remains. 



238 EUROPEAN STATES. 

7. Two years after the discovery of the Cape of Good 
Hope, Cabral, a Portuguese, discovered Brazil, which was 
colonized about the middle of the 16th century, and, till lately, 
formed an important part of the territories of the kings of 
Portugal. 

8. In 1807, Portugal being invaded by the French, the royal 
family removed the seat of government to Brazil, where they 
remained till 1820, when they returned to Lisbon, with the ex- 
ception of Pedro or Peter, the king's eldest son, who was left 
regent. In 1823, Brazil was declared an independent empire, 
under Pedro, who took the title of emperor ; and, in 1825, its 
independence was acknowledged by Portugal. In 1826, the 
throne of Portugal became vacant by the death of John VI. 
Pedro, the Emperor of Brazil, resigned his claims to the crown 
in favor of his daughter, Maria da Gloria (Maria II.) , who 
was proclaimed queen ; but Miguel, a younger brother of Pe- 
dro, aspired to the throne. After a long struggle he was ex- 
pelled, in 1832, from the Portuguese territories. 



THE NETHERLANDS. 

1. This country, during the Middle Ages, comprised various 
small states, governed by counts or earls. In the 15th cen- 
tury, most of the country, which had then become the seat of 
extensive manufactures and the centre of European commerce, 
was possessed by the Duke of Burgundy ; but, in the latter 
part of the century, these provinces were transferred, by the 
marriage of Maximilian, to the house of Austria. 

2. In 1555, they were resigned by Charles V. to his son, 
Philip II., King of Spain. In 1579, the Seven United Prov- 
inces of Holland revolted from the tyranny of Philip, and es- 
tablished their independence : part of the others continued in 
the possession of Spain till the peace of Utrecht, in 1713, when 
they were again ceded to the house of Austria, which held 
them till 1794, when they were conquered by the French. 

3. Soon after the Dutch Provinces had emancipated them- 
selves from Spain, and established their independence and a 
free government, they rose, by industry and enterprise, to a 
high degree of prosperity, and became one of the most for- 
midable maritime powers in the world. They stripped the 
Spaniards of some of their most valuable establishments in the 
East Indies and America, and extended their commerce in all 
directions. 



EUROPEAN STATES. 239 

4. In 1815, the Seven Provinces, or Holland, and the ten 
southern or Belgian provinces, were united by the Congress of 
Vienna, and erected into a kingdom, by the name of the Neth- 
erlands, under the government of the Prince of Orange. This 
union continued 15 years. 

5. In 1830, encouraged by the revolution which expelled 
Charles X. from France, the Belgians revolted, and established 
a separate kingdom by the name of Belgium ; and Prince 
Leopold of Saxe Coburg, widower of Princess Charlotte of 
England, was raised to the throne. 



POLAND. 



1. Miceslaus, Prince of Poland, introduced Christianity into 
the country in the 10th century. The most flourishing period 
of the monarchy was during the 15th and 16th centuries, when 
Poland ranked among the most formidable states of Europe. 

2. Casimir III., surnamed the Great, in the 14th century, 
founded the University of Cracow, patronized learning, en- 
couraged industry and commerce, and furnished the nation 
with a code of written laws. In the latter part of the 14th 
century, Jagellon [Ladislaus V.], Duke of Lithuania, by his 
marriage with Hedwiga, Queen of Poland, united the two 
countries. 

3. Under the reign of Sigismund I. (begun in 1507), the 
kingdom reached its highest pitch of dominion and splendor. 
It afterwards declined, but its falling glory was, for a time, up- 
held by John Sobieski, the last great man among its sovereigns. 

4. Poland was conquered by the sovereigns of Russia, Aus- 
tria, and Prussia, and subjected by them to three different par- 
titions : the first in 1772 ; the second in 1793 ; the third in 
1795, when Stanislaus was deprived of regal dignity, and his 
ill-fated country, by an act of the vilest tyranny, was blotted 
out from the list of kingdoms. 

5. After the peace of Tilsit, in 1807, the most of Poland 
that had been taken by Prussia was erected into a sovereign 
state, under the title of the Duchy of Warsaw. In 1815, a 
part of the duchy of Warsaw was given to Prussia, under the 
name of the duchy or province of Posen. Most of the re- 
mainder was erected into the kingdom of Poland, a constitu- 
tional monarchy, vested in a viceroy, appointed by the Em- 
peror of Russia. 



240 EUROPEAN STATES. 

6. The Grand-Duke Constantine, brother of the Emperor 
of Russia, being appointed Viceroy of Poland, administered 
the government in the most oppressive manner. In 1830, an 
insurrection broke out, which terminated, after a sanguinary- 
struggle, in the entire subjugation of the Poles ; and the king- 
dom of Poland was incorporated into the Russian empire. 

7. The emperor Nicholas exercised the utmost severity 
against the Poles. The Universities of Warsaw and Wilna, 
and many minor schools, were abolished, and public libraries 
and museums were carried to' St. Petersburg. 



SWEDEN. 



1. This country, together with Norway, formed the Scan* 
dinavia of the ancients, long the seat of the Goths and Van- 
dals. — In 1388, Sweden became subject to Margaret of Den- 
mark, styled the Semiramis of the North, who joined the three 
kingdoms of Denmark, Sweden, and Norway in one, by the 
Union of Calmar, in 1397. But her successor being destitute 
of her great abilities, this union fell to nothing, and Sweden 
was, for a long time, disturbed by insurrections and war. 

2. In the early part of the 16th century, the Swedes were 
delivered from the oppression of Christian II, King of Den- 
mark, styled the Nero of the North, by Gustavus Vasa, a 
descendant from the ancient kings, and an enlightened prince, 
who was raised to the throne in 1523, and who promoted the 
welfare of his subjects, and introduced the Protestant religion. 

3. The reign of Gustavus Adolphus, surnamed the Great, 
forms a distinguished era in the history of Sweden. He was 
eminent as a statesman and a sovereign, and is ranked among 
the greatest commanders of modern times. He took part with 
the Protestants in the Thirty years'' war, and was their most 
distinguished general. After having gained a series of advan- 
tages, he was slain in the battle of Lutzen, in 1632. 

4. Charles XII., who possessed an enthusiastic passion for 
glory, and a romantic spirit to a degree of infatuation, is by 
some styled the Alexander, and by others the Madman, of the 
North. After a brilliant career of victory in his wars with 
the Danes, Poles, and Russians, he was, at last, entirely de- 
feated by Peter the Great, in the battle of Poltava, in 1709 ; 
since which, the Swedish territories have been exposed to a 
progressive reduction by the rising power of Russia. 



EUROPEAN STATES. 241 

5. Gustavus IV., having lost Finland, which was conquered, 
in 1808, by Russia, and, by his mad schemes, brought his king- 
dom to the brink of ruin, was, in 1809, deposed, and Berna- 
dotte, one of Bonaparte's marshals, was elected crown prince. 
In 1814, the loss of Finland was repaired by the acquisition of 
Norway. 

6. On the death of Charles XIII. , in 1817, Bernadotte was 
raised to the throne by the title of Charles XIV., and, after a 
pacific and prosperous reign of 26 years, was succeeded, in 
1844, by his son Oscar. 



DENMARK. 



1. In 1448, the crown of Denmark fell to Christian I., of the 
house of Holstein or Oldenburg. The monarchy was origi- 
nally elective, and great power was possessed by the nobility 
until the year 1660, when, partly in consequence of the un- 
favorable issue of a war with Sweden, and partly on account 
of the oppression of the aristocracy, it was changed to an 
hereditary absolute government. 

2. In the beginning of the 18th century, Denmark, during 
the reign of Frederick IV., waged an unsuccessful war against 
Charles XII. of Sweden, which was ended in 1720 ; from which 
time the country enjoyed almost uninterrupted peace till 1801. 

3. During the pacific reigns of Christian VI. and Frederick 
V. (1730 to 1766), the kingdom was in a prosperous condition. 
The latter was assisted by Count Bernstoff, a distinguished 
statesman, whose nephew, of the same name, acted an impor- 
tant and conspicuous part in government, during the reign of 
Christian VII. 

4t. Christian VII. (1766), a weak and dissolute prince, mar- 
ried Caroline Matilda, sister of George III. of England, who 
was accused of having had improper connection with Count 
Struensee, the minister and favorite of the king. Struensee 
was condemned and executed, and Matilda, after being impris- 
oned, was permitted to pass the remainder of her life at Zell, 
in Hanover. 

5. In 1801, Copenhagen was attacked by a British fleet un- 
der Lord Nelson ; and in 1807, when the country was at peace, 
the city was bombarded by a British armament, under Lord 
Cathcart and Admiral Gambier, under pretence that informa- 
tion had been received that Denmark intended to throw herself 
into the scale of France. The whole Danish fleet, consisting 
21 



242 EUROPEAN STATES. 

of 18 ships of the line, and 15 frigates, were surrendered to 
the British. This unjust transaction has been generally and 
loudly exclaimed against. 

6. In January, 1848, Frederick VII. succeeded to the throne 
of Denmark ; the duchies of Slesivick and Holstein soon re- 
volted ; but, after a severe and sanguinary struggle, they were 
reduced to their allegiance. 



PRUSSIA. 



1. The foundation of Prussian greatness was laid by Fred- 
erick William, surnamed the Great Elector, who succeeded to 
the government in 1640, and had a long and prosperous reign. 
His successor Frederick, a weak and vain prince, was raised 
to the rank, and received the title, of king, in 1701. 

2. Frederick II., surnamed the Great, after suffering much 
hard treatment from his father, ascended the throne in 1740 ; 
and, being ambitious of conquest and military glory, he imme- 
diately invaded Silesia, with a fine army, which had been left 
to him by the late king, and was so successful as to obtain the 
cession of that valuable province. 

3. In 1756, Frederick published a declaration of war against 
Maria Theresa, Empress of Germany, who was aided by the 
French and Russians. The contest, which was carried on with 
great spirit on both sides, and was signalized by many hard- 
fought and bloody battles, was terminated by the peace of 
Uuhertsberg, in 1763 : " and thus, after a seven years' sangui- 
nary struggle, to which his unprincipled projects had given 
rise, and in which, independent of other sufferers, more than 
half a million of combatants had fallen in the field, everything 
was replaced on its ancient footing, and the only gainful result 
was simply this, that Frederick of Prussia had been furnished 
with an opportunity of proving himself a consummate com- 
mander, animated by an unconquerable spirit of military her- 
oism, and endued with one of the coolest heads and hardest 
hearts in Christendom." 

4. Frederick afterwards applied himself to the internal im- 
provement of his kingdom ; rebuilt towns, encouraged agricul- 
ture, manufactures, and commerce. In the first partition of 
Poland, he was the prime mover and the principal agent. He 
is esteemed one of the greatest commanders of modern times, 
and was, perhaps, the most indefatigable sovereign that ever 



EUROPEAN STATES. 243 

existed. He was fond of literature, and possessed extensive 
literary acquirements, and considerable merit as an author ; 
but he was despotic in his disposition, and had little sense of 
justice or humanity. 

5. In the European war which followed the French revolu- 
tion, Frederick William III. suffered a great defeat by the 
French, under Bonaparte, at Jena, in 1806 ; and at the peace 
of Tilsit, in 1807, he lost nearly one half of his territories. 
In 1813, he joined the coalition against France, and his army, 
under Blucher, contributed a powerful aid in the overthrow of 
Bonaparte at the battle of Waterloo ; and by the treaty of 
Vienna, in 1815, he gained a large accession of territory. 
Since the treaty of Vienna, the condition of Prussia has been 
in various respects much improved, especially in regard to 
education ; and it is now one of the best educated states in 
Europe. 

6. In 1840, Frederick William III. was succeeded by his 
son, Frederick William TV., whose reign, especially during the 
years 1848 and 1849, has been characterized by political agi- 
tations and convulsions. Earnest and repeated demands were 
made by the people for a more liberal form of government ; 
and, in 1848, a new constitution was proclaimed, which guar- 
antees political and religious liberty, the freedom of the press, 
the abolition of all aristocratic privileges, and a legislative body 
of two houses. 



RUSSIA. 



1. The importance of Russia, which is now one of the most 
powerful sovereignties of Europe, is of recent origin. The 
foundation of its greatness was laid by Peter the Great, who 
reigned from 1696 to 1725, and who was one of the most ex- 
traordinary princes that ever appeared. He joined in a coali- 
tion against Charles XII. of Sweden, and, after suffering some 
defeats, gained the great battle of Poltava (1709), and en- 
larged and strengthened his empire. 

2. Catharine IT, who obtained the sceptre, in 1762, by the 
dethronement and murder of her husband, Peter III, had a 
long and splendid reign. She displayed extraordinary talents 
for government ; carried on the system of improvement which 
had been begun by Peter the Great ; employed able ministers 
and generals, among the most celebrated of whom were Su- 
warrow and Potemkin ; and enlarged her empire by the ad- 



244 EUROPEAN STATES. 

dition of a part of Poland, the Crimea, and other territories ; 
— but her public character was stained by unprincipled am- 
bition, profound dissimulation, and disregard to justice ; and 
her private character was extremely licentious. 

3. Catharine was succeeded, in 1796, by her son Paul, who, 
after a short and distracted reign, was assassinated in 1801, 
and succeeded by his son Alexander, a popular and prosperous 
sovereign, during whose reign the power and dominions of 
Russia were extended, and objects of public improvement pro- 
moted. In 1812, Bonaparte made his disastrous invasion of 
Russia, and here met with the first effectual check to his career 
of victory and conquest. 

4. In 1825, Alexander was succeeded by his brother Nich- 
olas, the present emperor, whose reign has been distinguished 
for the wars carried on against the Turks, Persians, Circas- 
sians, Poles,, and Hungarians. The war against Turkey was 
declared in April, 1828, and the Russian army soon after in- 
vaded the Turkish dominions, took Brailow, Varna, and vari- 
ous other important posts. During the campaign of 1829, the 
Russians, commanded by Count Diebitsch, after having taken 
Silistria and other places, crossed the Balkan mountains, took 
the city of Adrianople, and compelled the Turks to accede to 
their conditions of peace ; and in September, 1829, a treaty 
was signed at Adrianople. 

5. In 1830, a general insurrection of the Poles, who were 
goaded and oppressed by the tyranny of their viceroy, the 
Grand- Duke Constantine, was crushed, by the capture of War- 
saw, in 1831. Many thousand Poles were banished to Siberia ; 
the kingdom of Poland was incorporated with Russia, and gov- 
erned as a conquered province. 

6. In 1848, the Emperor of Russia sent a powerful army to 
assist the Emperor of Austria to put down the insurrection of 
the Hungarians. Russia is a powerful military despotism, with 
a standing army of 800,000, a most formidable enemy to free 
government. 



ROME. 

1. The temporal power of the pope [Stephen 77.] com 
menced in 755, and it attained its zenith in the 11th century, 
during the pontificate of Gregory VII. [Hildebrand], who as- 
sumed authority over kings and potentates. 

2. The first half of the 16th century is a memorable era in 



EUROPEAN STATES. 245 

the history of the papacy. Pope Julius II, the projector of 
the League of Cambray, was distinguished as a statesman and 
a warrior ; and his successor, Leo X., the son of the famous 
Lorenzo de Medici, was a liberal patron of learning: During 
his pontificate, the Reformation was begun by Luther, in 1517. 
Since that event, the power of the Roman pontiff has been 
greatly diminished. 

3. In 1809, Bonaparte united the Ecclesiastical States to the 
French empire, and the temporal power of the pope was for 
a while suspended ; but, by the Congress of Vienna, he was re- 
instated in nearly all his former possessions. 

4. The Roman government has long been one of the most 
despotic in Europe. In 1846, Pius IX. was elected pope ; and 
he soon manifested a disposition to promote reform, and to 
grant to his subjects a more liberal government than they had 
before enjoyed ; and he was for a time highly popular. 

5. But the revolution in France, and the political movements 
in other parts of Europe, in 1848, were soon felt at Rome, and 
the people made more demands on the pope than he was dis- 
posed to grant. At length they deposed him from his temporal 
power, and established a republican government. Pope Pius, 
disguised as a servant, fled to Gaeta, in the kingdom of Naples. 

6. The French government sent an army, which, after a se- 
vere bombardment, entered Rome on the 3d of July, 1849, put 
down the republican government, and prepared the way for 
the pope to return, and be reinstated in his former authority. 



TURKEY. 



1. The Turks are a Tartar nation, originally from Asia. 
The first notice of them in history is about the year 800, 
when, issuing from an obscure retreat, they took possession 
of a part of Armenia, called, from them, Turcomania. Their 
dominions, divided for some time into petty states, were united 
under Othman, Ottoman, or Osman, who assumed the title of sul- 
tan, and established his empire at Prusa, in Bithynia, in 1298. 

2. In 1360, the most of Thrace was conquered by them 
under Amurath L, who made Adrianople the seat of his gov- 
ernment ; his successor, Bajazet, conquered most of the East- 
ern or Greek empire ; and, in 1453, Mahomet II. took Con- 
stantinople, which has ever since continued to be the seat of 
the Ottoman or Turkish empire. 

21* 



246 EUROPEAN STATES. 

3. The Turks afterwards widely extended their empire in 
Europe, Asia, and Africa, and gained possession of the greater 
part of the countries most celebrated in ancient history. Dur- 
ing the reign of Selim L, Syria and Egypt were conquered. 
The reign of Solyman the Magnificent, which began in 1520, 
was more illustrious than that of any other of the sultans. He 
took the island of Rhodes from the Knights of St. John, be- 
sieged Vienna, made the King of Hungary his tributary, re- 
duced Bagdad, conquered the whole of Assyria, Mesopotamia, 
and Tunis, and established excellent laws in his dominions. 

4. Since the reign of Solyman, the Turks have been engaged 
in various sanguinary wars, particularly with the Austrians, 
Russians, and also with the Persians under Kouli-Khan. 

5. The Turkish power has lately been much weakened, in 
consequence of the revolt of the Greeks, and also of the ca- 
lamitous war with Russia, which was terminated by the peace 
of Adrianople, in 1829. 

6. The Greeks commenced an open revolt in 1821. After 
a war had been for a considerable time carried on, with savage 
ferocity, between them and the Turks, several European na- 
tions interposed in their favor"; and, in 1827, the combined 
fleets of England, France, and Russia, almost annihilated the 
Turkish naval force in the battle of Navarino. In 1828, the 
Morea, and a part of the Greek islands, being liberated from 
Turkish thraldom, were formed into an independent govern- 
ment, under Count Capo oVIstria as president ; and, in 1832, 
they were erected into a kingdom, and Otho, son of the late 
King of Bavaria, was placed on the throne of the kingdom of 
Greece. 



EUROPEAN STATES. 



247 



Sovereigns op Germany, Spain, Sweden, Prussia, and Russia, 


Since the Beginning of the Fifteenth Century. 


A. D. 


Germany. 


Spain. 


Sweden. 


Prussia. 


Russia. 


1400 












Emperors. 


Kings. 


Kings, 


Electors. 


Czars. 


\5th 


93 Maximilian 
I. 


79 Ferdinand 
and Isabella 








1500 












19 Charles V. 


4 Philip and 


23 Gustavus ' 








58 Ferdinand I. 


Joanna 


Vasa 


35 Joachim II. 


38 John Basil 




64 Maximilian 


16 Charles I. 


60 Eric XIV. 






16^ 


II. 


56 Philip II. 


68 John III. 


72 John George 


84 Theodore 




76 Rodolph II. 




92 Sigismund 


98 Joachim 


97 Boris Godu- 


1600 




98 Philip HI. 


99 Charles IX. 


Frederick 


now 






















5 Theodore 




12 Matthias 




11 Gustavus 


8 Sigismund 


6 Zuski 




19 Ferdinand 


21 Philip IV. 


Adolphus 


19 GeorgeWm. 


13 Michael 




II. 




32 Christina 


40 Frederick 


Theodore 


17th 


37 Ferdinand 




54 Charles X. 


Win. 


45 Alexis 




III. 




60 Charles XI. 




76 Theodore 




58 Leopold 


65 Charles II. 


97 Charles Xn. 


88 Frederick 
III. 


82 John 

Emperors. 
96 Peter I. 


1700 


























Philip V. 




Kings. 






5 Joseph I. 




18 Ulrica Eleo- 


.1 Frederick I. 


25 Catherine 




11 Charles VI. 


- 


nora 


13 Frederick 


27 Peter II. 






24 Louis 


41 Frederick 


Wm. I. 


30 Anne 




42 Charles VII. 


46 Ferdinand 


51 Adolphus 


40 Frederick 


40 John 


IQth 


45 Francis I. 


VI. 


Frederick 


II. 


41 Elizabeth 




65 Joseph II. 


59 Charles III. 


71 Gustavus 


86 Frederick 


62 Peter III. 








III. 


Wm. II. 


62 Catherine 




90 Leopold II. 


88 Charles IV. 


92 Gustavus 


97 Frederick 


11. 




92 Francis II. 




IV. 


Wm. III. 


96 Paul 


1800 














Austria. 


8 Ferdinand 


9 Charles 




1 Alexander 




6 Francis 


VII. 


XIII. 










30 Isabella II. 


18 Charles 




25 Nicholas 


19^ 


35 Ferdinand 




XIV. 


40 Frederick 




48 Francis Jo- 




(Bernadotte) 


Wm. IV. 




seph 


1 


44 Oscar 


1 



Germany. — Germany formed a part of the Empire of the West, under 
Charlemagne, in 800. In 887, the imperial dignity was transferred to Ger- 
many, which continued to retain the title of Empire till 1806, when it was 
dissolved. Francis II., emperor of Germany, assumed, in 1804, the title of 
Emperor of Austria ; and this title is retained by his successors. 

Spain. — Ferdinand II., who had previously married Isabella, queen of 
Castile and Leon, succeeded to the throne of Arragon in 1479, and Spain, 
at that time, became united into one monarchy. 

Sweden. — Gustavus Vasa, who was descended from the ancient kings 
of Sweden, was, after a revolution, proclaimed king. In 1818, Bernadotte^ 
a French marshal, was raised to the throne, by the title of Charles XIV. • 

Prussia. — Prussia was erected into an electorate in 1415, and into a 
kingdom in 1701. 

Russia. — The sovereigns were formerly styled czars ; and the same 
title is still often applied to them. Peter the Great, who succeeded to the 
throne in 1696, assumed the title of Emperor. 



248 



EUROPEAN STATES. 



Names distinguished in Italian, French, Spanish, German, 




&c, Literature. 






A. D. 


Italian. 


1 


French. 




Spanish and 
Portuguese. 


13 


German, Dutch, "g 

&c ^3 


1300 


















*Dante 


21 






*Lobeira 


25 






Hth 


♦Petrarch 
Boccaccio 


74 
75 


W. Durand 
W. Occam 


33 

47 


Juan Manuel 


62 






1400 


















§Poggio 


59 


§Froissart 


2 


*Ayala 


7 


John Huss 


15 




JEneas Sylv. 


64 


John Gerson 


29 


*Villena 


34 


Guttenberg 


68 


15th 


*Pulci 


87 


*Chartier 


58 


*Juan de Mena 


56 


Th. d Kempis 


71 




Mirandola 


94 






*L. de Mendoza 58 


Regiomontanus 76 


1500 


















fRAPHAEL 


20 


§P. de Comines 


9 


Ximenes 


17 


Reuchlin 


22 




fLopE de Vinci 20 


Budseus 


40 


*Garcilasso 


36 


tAlb. Durer 


28 




§Machiavel 


28 


Bucer 


51 


*Boscan 


43 


Zuinglius 


31 




♦Ariosto 


33 


Rabelais 


53 


Loyola 


56 


Erasmus 


36 




fCorreggio 


34 


J. C. Scaliger 


58 


*Saa de Miranda 58 


Paracelsus 


41 


16th 


§Guicciardini 


40 


R. Stephens 


59 


*Montemayor 


61 


Copernicus 


43 




§Bembo 


47 


Castalio 


63 


*Camoens 


79 


LUTHER 


46 




tM. Angelo 


64 


CALVIN 


64 


fMorales 


86 


fHolbein 


54 




•(Titian 


76 


Ramus 


72 


tVargas 


90 


Sleidan 


56 




Palladio 


80 


Montaigne 


92 


*Luis de Leon 


91 


Melancthon 


60 


1600 


♦Tasso 


95 


H. Stephens 


98 


*Ercilla 




Mercator 


94 




















*Guarini 


13 


Beza 


5 


*Argehsola 


13 


Tycho Brahe 


1 




Bellarmine 


21 


§Thuanus 


17 


Cervantes 


16 


Arminius 


19 




^Father Paul 


23 


♦Malherbe 


28 


§Mariana 


24 


Buxtorf 


21 




§Davila 


31 


Jansenius 


38 


§Herrera 


25 


Kepler 


31 




♦Tassoni 


35 


Descartes 


50 


*G6ngora 


27 


fRubens 


41 




Galileo 


42 


Gassendi 


55 


*Lope de Vega 


35 


fVandyck 


41 


17th 


tGuido 


42 


Pascal 


62 


*Quevedo 


45 


Episcopius 


43 


§Bentevoglio 


44 


fPoussin 


65 


fVelazquez 


60 


Grotius 


45 




Torricelli 


47 


♦Moliere 


73 


*Calderon 


67 


fRembrandt 


68 




L. Socinus 


62 


■fClaude Lor. 


82 


*Villegas 


69 


Spinoza 


77 




fBernini 


80 


♦Corneille 


84 


fMurillo 


85 


Guericke 


86 




Borromeo 


94 


♦La Fontaine 


95 


§Solis 


86 


Puffendorf 


94 


1700 


Malpighi 


94 


♦Racine 


99 


Molinos 


96 


Huyghens 


95 


F. Socinus 


4 


§Bossuet 


4 


♦Candamo 


4 


Leibnitz 


16 




Cassini 


12 


§Bayle 


6 


§Ferreras 


35 


Vitringa 


22 




tMaratti 


13 


♦Boileau 


11 


*Ereiceyra 


44 


Stahl 


34 




Gravina 


18 


*Fenelon 


15 


*Montiano 


53 


Le Clerc 


36 




§Muratori 


50 


Massillon 


42 


Luzan 


54 


Boerhaave 


38 




*Maffei 


55 


Le Sage 


47 


Moratin 


80 


Bernouilli 


48 


18th 


Goldoni 


72 


Montesquieu 


55 


*Huerta 


87 


Wolff 


54 




*Metastasio 


82 


*Voltaire 


78 


*Iglesias 


91 


§Mosheim 


55 




Boscovitch 


87 


Rousseau 


78 


*Yriarte 


91 


Swedenborg 


72 




§Tiraboschi 


94 


DAlembert 


83 


Gonzalez 


94 


Haller 


77 




Beccaria 


95 


Buffon 


88 


Ulloa 


95 


LlNNjEUS 


78 




Galvani 


98 


Condorcet 


94 


*Forner 


97 


Lessing 


81 




Spallanzani 


99 


Lavoisier 


94 


Cruz y Cano 




Euler 


63 


1800 




































♦Alfieri 


3 


Fourcroy 


9 


*Cienfuegos 


9 


Lavater 


1 




§Denina 


13 


La Grange 


13 


Jovellanos 


11 


*Klopstock 


3 




Canova 


22 


De Stael 


17 


Melendez 


17 


Kant 


4 


19th 


Volta 


27 


La Place 


27 


§Llorente 


23 


♦Schiller 


5 




♦Foscolo 


27 


Champollion 


32 


Moratin 


28 


♦Wieland 


13 




♦Monti 


28 


CUVIER 


32 


Navarrete 




♦Goethe 


32 




§Botta 


37 


Chateaubriand 


48 


Escoiquiz 




Berzelius 


48 



* Poets : t Painters : § Historians : those in Italics Divines. 



EUROPEAN STATES. 249 



Remarks on the preceding Table. 

Italy. In the revival of learning in modern times, Italy has the honor 
of having taken the lead. The 14 th century was illustrated by the cele- 
brated poets, Dante and Petrarch; and by Boccaccio, an eminent prose 
writer; and, in the 15th and 16th centuries, Italian genius in literature 
and the fine arts shone forth with great lustre, under the liberal patron- 
age of the wealthy houses of Medici and Este. This period was illustrated 
by the poets, Ariosto and Tasso; by the artists, Raphael, Da Vinci, Michael 
Angelo, &c. ; by the historians, Macchiavel, Guicciardini, and many other 
men of genius. Of the Italian astronomers, the most eminent is Galileo. 

France. Literature began to flourish in France in the early part of the 
16 th century, under the patronage of Francis I. This century was illus- 
trated by the names of Calvin, Scaliger, Stephens, Ramus, Montaigne, &c. 

The most brilliant period of French literature was during the long reign 
of Louis XIV., in the latter half of the 17th and the early part of the 18th 
centuries, during which France produced more men, eminent in literature 
and the arts, than any other country, some of whom are Pascal, distin- 
guished for genius and attainments in science ; Moliere, Corneille, Racine, 
and Boileau, eminent poets ; Fenelon, author of the Telemachus ; Bossuet, 
Bourdaloue, and Massillon, eloquent preachers. 

The most eminent French poet, since Boileau, is Voltaire. Some of the 
greatest French mathematicians and astronomers are Descartes, Gassendi, 
D'Alembert, Condorcet, La Grange, and La Place ; some of the naturalists, 
Buffon and Cuvier. 

Spain. The principal poetical productions of Spain, before the com- 
mencement of the 16th century, were the romances of the Cid, a renowned 
Spanish hero. The earliest of the classical school of Spanish poets are 
Garcilaso and Boscan; the most eminent dramatic poets, Lope de Vega and 
Calderon; the most distinguished name in Spanish literature, Cervantes, 
author of Don Quixote ; the most eminent historians, Mariana, Herrera, 
and Solis. — Camoens, the author of the Lusiad, is the most distinguished 
poet of Portugal. 

Germany. Germany has given birth to a succession of eminent scholars 
and philosophers since the Reformation ; and has, for some time past, pro- 
duced a greater number of learned authors than any other country. The 
Germans claim the merit of many important inventions, as gunpowder, 
printing, watches, the air-pump, and the telescope. Copernicus of Thorn, 
near the borders of Germany, was the restorer of the true system of the 
world. Luther is noted as the great reformer. Some of the most eminent 
German philosophers and men of science, are Kepler, Leibnitz, Wolff, and 
Kant ; some of the most eminent poets, Klopstock, Schiller, and. Goethe. 

Sweden. Some of the eminent men of Sweden may be mentioned, — 
Linnaeus, distinguished for his attainments in botany ; Swedenborg, in 
science and theology ; Scheele and Berzelius, in chemistry. 

Holland. Holland has produced many men of learning, among whom 
are Erasmus, the most celebrated scholar of his age, and one of the prin- 
cipal restorers of learning ; Grotius, Vossius, and Le Clerc, eminent schol- 
ars ; Huyghens, a great mathematician ; and Boerhaave, a distinguished 
physician. 



AMERICA. 251 



AMERICA. 

Discovery and Settlement : — Columbus, Americus, Cabot, 
8fC. ; Conquest of Mexico and Peru ; — Cortes, Pizarro, 
fyc. — From A. D. 1492 to 1600. 

1. The discovery of America was the greatest achievement 
of the kind ever performed by man ; and, considered in con- 
nection with its consequences, it is the greatest event of mod- 
ern times. It served to wake up an unprecedented spirit of 
enterprise ; it opened new sources of wealth, and exerted a 
powerful influence on commerce, by greatly increasing many 
important articles of trade, and also by bringing into general 
use many others before unknown : by leading to the discovery 
of the rich mines of this continent, it has caused the quantity 
of the precious metals in circulation throughout the world to 
be exceedingly augmented ; it also gave a new impulse to 
colonization, and prepared the way for the advantages of civil- 
ized life, and the blessings of Christianity, to be extended over 
vast regions, which before were the miserable abodes of bar- 
barism and pagan idolatry. 

2. The man to whose genius and enterprise the world is in- 
debted for this discovery was Christopher Columbus, of Genoa. 
He was the son of a wool-comber ; was engaged in a sea- 
faring life from the age of 14 ; was well versed in the sciences 
of geometry, astronomy, and geography ; had more correct 
ideas of the figure of the earth than were common in his time ; 
was singularly qualified for executing an arduous expedition, 
being well skilled in naval science, fertile in expedients, pa- 
tient and persevering, grave and dignified in his deportment, 
master of himself, and skilful in the government of other men. 

3. He conceived, that, in order to complete the balance of 
the terraqueous globe, another continent necessarily existed, 
which might be reached by sailing to the west from Europe ; 
but he erroneously connected it with India. Being persuaded 
of the truth of his theory, his adventurous spirit made him 
eager to verify it by experiment. 

4. The passage round the Cape of Good Hope not being 
then known, the merchandise of India was, in order to be con- 
veyed to Europe, brought up the Red Sea, and transported 
across the land to Alexandria. To find a passage to China 
and the East Indies by sea, had long been an object of investi- 
gation ; and it was in quest of a shorter and easier route by 
the west that Columbus undertook his voyage of discovery. 



252 AMERICA. 

The riches of the East were the bribe and inducement which 
he held out to the sovereign or the state that should enable him 
to execute his design. 

5. He first applied for assistance to his countrymen, the 
Genoese, then to the Portuguese, then to Ferdinand of Spain, 
and then, by means of his brother Bartholomew, to Henry VII. 
of England, but all without success ; and he had the mortifica- 
tion to be considered a visionary projector. At length, after 
seven years of persevering and anxious solicitation and con- 
temptuous neglect in Spain, and 18 years after he had first 
conceived the enterprise, he obtained a gleam of royal favor 
from Queen Isabella. By her means he was provided with 
three small vessels, victualled for twelve months, and having 
on board 90 men. The expense of building and supplying 
the whole was only about .£4,000. He was appointed ad- 
miral of all the seas which he should explore, and governor 
of all the islands and countries which he should discover and 
subdue. 

6. With the small and ill-appointed fleet which had been 
furnished, he sailed from Palos, in Spain, on the 3d of August, 
1492. He steered directly for the Canary islands, where, hav- 
ing refitted, he proceeded on his voyage, on the 6th of Septem- 
ber, passing into seas which no vessel had been known to have 
ever explored, and without a chart to direct his course. 

7. He had soon occasion to make use of all his talents and 
address. After having sailed about 200 leagues from the 
Canaries, the variation of the magnetic needle from its direc- 
tion to the polar star, a phenomenon which had never before 
been observed, excited alarm in his own breast, and filled the 
sailors with terror and dismay to such a degree, that they were 
ready to rise in open mutiny. But, with great presence of 
mind, he made a solution of the phenomenon, which served to 
silence the murmurs of his crew, though it was unsatisfactory 
to himself. Having pursued their course for 30 days longer, 
without discovering land, the murmurs of the crew again broke 
out, and with increased violence. Columbus made use of en- 
couragement and exhortation ; but, according to Oviedo, was 
compelled to yield so far to their importunity as to propose, 
that if, after proceeding three days more, no land were dis- 
covered, he would instantly return. 

8. Strong indications of land had already begun to appear ; 
and, in the night of the 11th of October, Columbus, who was 
standing on the forecastle, discovered a light ahead. The 
morning displayed the joyful sight of land ! A hymn of 
thanksgiving to Almighty God was sung by the whole crew, 
who immediately united in the most ardent expressions of ad- 



AMERICA. 253 

miration for their commander, with acknowledgments of their 
rashness and disobedience. 

9. The island first discovered was St. Salvador, or Cat 
Island, one of the Bahamas. He afterwards discovered Cuba 
and Hayti, or St. Domingo, which he named Hispaniola, on 
which he landed, and left some of his men to form a colony. 
In conformity with the theory which he had adopted, he con- 
nected these islands with India, believing them at no great dis- 
tance from that unexplored region ; and, as they had been 
reached by a western passage, they were denominated the West 
Indies. And, in accordance with this theory, the aborigines 
of America, from the time of the first discovery, have been 
designated by the appellation of Indians. 

10. Having obtained a quantity of gold and some of the na- 
tives, he set sail on his return to Spain. During the voyage, a 
violent tempest arose, which lasted 15 days, and exposed the 
fleet to extreme danger ; and, in order to afford a small chance 
that the world might not lose the benefit of his discovery, he 
had the presence of mind to write a short account of his voy- 
age, which he wrapped in an oiled cloth, and inclosed in a 
cake of wax ; and, putting this into an empty cask, he com- 
mitted it to the sea, in hopes that it might fall into the hands 
of some fortunate navigator, or be cast ashore. But the storm 
happily abated, and Columbus entered the port from which he 
had sailed about seven months before, amidst the acclamations 
and wonder of the multitude. He proceeded immediately to 
the court, where he was received with respect and admiration. 

11. Columbus afterwards made a second and a third voyage, 
in the latter of which he discovered, in 1498, the Continent of 
South America ; but his successes and honors did not fail to 
excite envy and intrigues against him in« the court of Spain. 
In consequence of false accusations, he was deprived of the 
government of Hispaniola, and sent home in chains. The 
captain of the vessel which carried him, impressed with the 
highest veneration for his captive, and feeling the deepest re- 
gret for the indignity which he suffered, offered to release him 
from his fetters. " No ! " said Columbus, in a burst of gener- 
ous indignation ; "I wear these irons in consequence of an 
order from their majesties, the rulers of Spain. They shall 
find me as obedient to this as to their other injunctions. By 
their command I have been confined ; and their command 
alone shall set me at liberty." 

12. But he never forgot the unjust and shameful treatment 
which he had received. Through the whole of his after life, 
he carried his fetters with him, as a memorial of the ingrati- 
tude which he had experienced. He hung them up in his 

22 



254 AMERICA. 

chamber, and gave orders that they should be buried with him 
in his grave. 

13. Upon the arrival of Columbus in Spain, a prisoner and 
in fetters, the indignation of all men was highly excited ; and 
Ferdinand, cold, distant, and haughty as he was, felt for a while 
the emotions of shame. But after detaining him for a long 
time, in a fatiguing and vexatious attendance, he appointed 
another person governor of Hispaniola in his stead. Such 
was the reward which the great discoverer of this western 
world received, for having devised and carried on to a success- 
ful issue one of the noblest and most daring enterprises that 
ever entered into the mind of man ; and such is the account 
which impartial history is constrained to give of the justice and 
gratitude of kings ! 

14. Columbus, intent on finding a passage to India by the 
west, afterwards made a fourth voyage, examined the coast of 
Darien, and was shipwrecked on the coast of the island of 
Jamaica. He here obtained, for a time, an astonishing com- 
mand over the Indians, by predicting an eclipse of the moon. 
After having endured a great variety of suffering and calamity, 
from the mutiny and treachery of his men, from conflicts with 
the natives, from scarcity of provisions, and from sickness, in 
this his last and most disastrous expedition, he returned to 
Spain ; and, worn out with fatigue, disappointment, and sor- 
row, he died at Valladolid, in 1506, at about the age of 70 
years. His funeral, by the order of Philip II. , who had recently 
ascended the throne, was extremely magnificent, and the fol- 
lowing inscription was engraved on his tomb : — " To Castile 
and Leon, Columbus has given a new world." 

15. But this great man was unjustly deprived of the honor 
of giving his name to this continent by Americus Vespucius, a 
native of Florence, who accompanied Ojeda in a voyage, in 
1499, and discovered a part of the coast of South America, 
the next year after the continent had been discovered by Co- 
lumbus. He wrote an account of this voyage, claiming the 
honor of being the first discoverer of the main land ; and from 
him the continent has been named America. But this act of 
injustice, how much soever it is to be regretted, has done no 
real injury to the reputation of the one, nor benefit to that of 
the other ; our feelings rather incline us to enhance the merit 
of Columbus, as one whose noble achievement has been ill re- 
quited, and to detract from that of Americus, as one who would 
usurp the honors of another. 

16. In 1497, Vasco de Gama, a Portuguese, first doubled the 
Cape of Good Hope, and sailed to India. By this, he effected 
what was a leading object with Columbus in his enterprise, 



AMERICA. 255 

and what had been, during the preceding century, an object 
of investigation, namely, the discovery of a more expeditious 
and convenient passage to the East Indies than through Egypt. 
In 1519, Magellan, a Portuguese in the service of Spain, 
passed the straits which bear his name, and launched into the 
vast ocean, which he called Pacific ; but he lost his life at one 
of the Philippine islands ; yet his officers proceeded on the 
voyage, and accomplished, for the first time, the circumnavi- 
gation of the globe. 

17. John Cabot, a Venetian by birth, but an inhabitant of 
Bristol, in England, received a commission from Henry VIL, 
and sailed in the beginning of May, 1497, on a voyage of dis- 
covery, accompanied by his son, Sebastian Cabot ; and one or 
both of them discovered the continent of North America, the 
year before the main land of South America had been discov- 
ered by Columbus, and two years before it had been seen by 
Americus. 

18. The land first seen was called Prima Vista, which is 
supposed to have been a part of Newfoundland. They pro- 
ceeded further to the north, in search of a passage to India ; 
but finding no appearance of one, they tacked about, and 
sailed as far as Florida. They erected crosses along the 
coast, and took a formal possession of the country in behalf 
of the crown of England. This was the foundation of the 
English claim to North America, though no settlements were 
formed till many years after. 

19. Several years passed away, from the time of the first 
discovery of America by Columbus, before any considerable 
settlement was formed by the Spaniards, on the continent. In 
1519, Fernando Cortes, with a fleet of eleven small vessels, 
having on board 663 men, sailed from Cuba for the invasion 
of Mexico, and landed at Vera Cruz. As fire-arms were not 
yet in general use, only 13 of the men had muskets, the rest 
being armed with cross-bows, swords, and spears. Cortes had 
also 10 small field-pieces, and 16 horses, — the first of these 
animals ever seen in that country. 

20. Cortes proceeded first to Tlascala, the capital of a small 
republic, hostile to Mexico ; and here he induced 6,000 war- 
riors to join him, and accompany him to the city of Mexico. 
On his arrival, he was courteously received by Montezuma, the 
Mexican emperor. Soon after, Cortes perfidiously seized Mon- 
tezuma in his palace, and carried him to his own quarters, where 
he was kept more than six months as a prisoner. At length, 
the Mexicans, exasperated by the cruelties of the Spaniards, 
took measures to avenge themselves ; and, in the contest which 
followed, Montezuma was wounded by his own subjects, ana 



256 AMERICA. 

soon afterwards died. The Spaniards, after a sanguinary- 
struggle, were driven from the city, with the loss of half their 
men and all their muskets and artillery. 

21. Cortes, with the shattered remnant of his army, retreated 
to Tlascala, pursued by an immense host of Mexicans, whom 
he routed in the great battle of Otumba. At Tlascala, he re- 
ceived some reinforcements of Spaniards, and raised a large 
army of Indians from the nations hostile to the Mexicans. At 
the head of these forces, he marched against Mexico, where 
Guatimozin, a nephew of Montezuma, had been elected em- 
peror ; and, after a siege of nearly three months, he captured 
the city, and seized Guatimozin, who was treated with the 
greatest cruelty, and finally put to death. Thus was the great 
empire of Mexico overthrown by a handful of daring and un- 
principled adventurers. 

22. In 1518, the Spaniards formed a settlement at Panama, 
on the west side of the gulf of Darien. From this place 
several attempts were made to explore the regions of South 
America ; and hence Pizarro sailed on an expedition, in 1525, 
and discovered the rich and flourishing kingdom of Peru. He 
afterwards obtained from Charles V., the King of Spain, a 
commission as governor of the country, and a military force 
to subdue it; and for this purpose, in 1531, he sailed from 
Panama, with three small vessels and 180 men. 

23. With this little band he invaded the country, marched to 
the residence of the inca, or king, Atabalipa, and having in- 
vited him to a friendly interview, and attempted to persuade 
him to embrace the Christian religion, he seized him as a pris- 
oner ; and, by his order, his men fell upon the defenceless and 
unresisting attendants of the monarch, and slew upwards of 
4,000 of them. 

24. The Peruvian monarch, in order to procure his release, 
caused the room in which he was confined, which was 22 feet 
by 17, to be filled, for Pizarro, with vessels of gold and silver, 
as high as he could reach. The treasure, which was collected 
from various parts of the empire, amounted, in value, to up- 
wards of £ 1,500 ,000; and this large sum was divided among 
the conquerors. But the perfidious Spaniard still held the inca 
prisoner ; and Almagro having joined Pizarro with a reinforce- 
ment, they brought the monarch to trial, and, on a charge of 
being a usurper and an idolater, condemned and executed him ! 

25. The Spanish chiefs not long after quarrelled with each 
other, and a civil war ensued. Almagro was taken prisoner, 
condemned, and executed ; and, soon after, Pizarro was assas- 
sinated. The Indians took advantage of these contentions, 
and, under their new inca, Huanca Capac, rose against the 



AMERICA. 257 

Spaniards; but they were at last subdued (1532), and Peru 
became a province of Spain. 

26. At the time of the invasion of the Spaniards, the Peru- 
vians and Mexicans had made considerable progress towards 
civilization, much more than the rest of the Indians. They 
understood the arts of architecture, sculpture, mining, and 
working the precious metals ; cultivated their land, were 
clothed, and had a regular system of government, and a code 
of civil and religious laws. The Peruviatis had the superiority 
in architecture, and possessed some magnificent palaces and 
temples. They worshipped the sun as the Supreme Deity, 
and their religion had few of those sanguinary traits which 
were characteristic of that of the Mexicans. 

27. In 1524, Francis I. of France, willing to share a part 
of the new world with his neighbors, commissioned Verrazano 
on a voyage of discovery. This navigator explored a great 
part of the coast of North America. Ten years afterwards, 
James C artier set out on a similar expedition, sailed up the 
gulf of St. Lawrence, took possession of the country in behalf 
of the king, and styled it New France; but the name was 
afterwards changed to Canada. 

28. In 1584, the celebrated Sir Walter Raleigh, under a 
commission from Queen Elizabeth, to discover, occupy, and 
govern " remote, heathen, and barbarous countries," not pre- 
viously possessed by any Christian prince or people, arrived in 
America, entered Pamlico Sound, and proceeded to Roanoke 
Island, near the mouth of Albemarle Sound, and took posses- 
sion of the country. On his return to England, he gave such 
a splendid description of the beauty and fertility of the region, 
that Elizabeth, delighted with occupying so fine a territory, 
gave it the name of Virginia, as a memorial that this happy 
discovery was made during the reign of a virgin queen. 

29. Several attempts were made to form settlements in Vir- 
ginia, by Sir Walter Raleigh, Sir Francis Drake, and Sir 
Richard Grenville, but they all proved unsuccessful ; and part 
of the colonists were carried back to England, part of them 
perished by disease, and part were destroyed by the Indians. 

30. It was the practice of Europeans to take possession of 
the parts of America which they visited, by the pretended 
right of discovery. The original inhabitants were treated as 
if they had no rights, and were no more owners of the soil 
than the beasts of the forest. This example was set by Co- 
lumbus himself. He landed upon St. Salvador, the first island 
discovered, in a gorgeous dress, with a drawn sword in his 

22* 



258 AMERICA. 

hand, and the royal standard displayed, and took possession of 
the island for the crown of Castile and Leon ; and in con- 
formity to this practice, it was inscribed on his tomb, that to 
this crown he " had given a new world." 

31. The pope, in accordance with principles that were acted 
upon in an age of ignorance and superstition, granted to the 
sovereigns of Spain the countries discovered by their subjects 
in the new world. The propagation of Christianity was held 
out as the chief reason for taking possession of America ; and 
the promotion of a religion which breathes " peace on earth 
and good-will towards men," was made the pretext for every 
species of injustice, cruelty, bloodshed, and slavery, which the 
defenceless inhabitants of America were destined to experi- 
ence from Cortes, Pizarro, and other unprincipled invaders. 

32. The Spaniards who first came to America were stim- 
ulated by the desire and expectation of finding the precious 
metals, gold and silver. So powerful was this passion for gold, 
that the first adventurers encountered every possible hardship 
and danger in search of it, and sacrificed millions of the 
wretched natives, whom they compelled to work in the mines. 
The unfortunate Indians were distributed, like cattle, into lots 
of so many hundred heads each, and sold to the colonists. 
The Indians, who were naturally of a weak constitution, were 
rapidly wasted away by the hard service to which they were 
subjected. So great was the mortality among them, that out 
of 60,000 Indians who were in the island of St. Domingo, in 
1508, only 14,000 are said to have remained in 1516 ; and it 
was not many years before the race became nearly extinct in 
most of the islands. 

33. This cruelty to the Indians was strongly condemned by 
Las Casas, and other benevolent persons, and the colonists 
soon began to look to Africa for a supply of laborers in their 
mines and on their plantations. It was found that one able- 
bodied negro could do as much work as four Indians. 

34. The first importation of negroes from Africa to the 
West Indies was made, in 1503, by the Portuguese, and a 
larger one was made by order of Ferdinand of Spain, in 1511 ; 
since that time, the inhuman traffic in African slaves has been 
carried on by most of the European nations ; nor has it yet 
been abandoned by Spain and Portugal, the two European 
countries which were the first to begin this barbarous traffic, 
and which seem disposed to be last to relinquish it. 



UNITED STATES. 259 

THE UNITED STATES.* 

SECTION I. 

Settlement and Early History of the Colonies : — Virginia ; 
New York ; Colonies of New England ; Indian Wars ; 
Maryland ; Pennsylvania. — From A. D. 1607 to 1682. 

1. The vanity of nations, like that of families, inclines them 
to lay claim to a high antiquity ; and the obscurity in which 
their early history is, in most instances, involved, affords them 
an opportunity to indulge this propensity. But with regard to 
the United States, circumstances are different. The vanity of 
the people of this country inclines them to dwell upon their 
recent origin and their rapid growth, and the promise which 
these afford of future greatness. Of all independent nations 
of any importance, now existing, this has had the most recent 
origin, and its early history is the best known ; nor do the 
annals of the world afford another instance of a nation rising, 
in so short a space of time from its first settlement, to an equal 
degree of power and freedom. 

2. Various circumstances have concurred to promote the 
rapid increase in population and wealth, and the progress of 
society, which have been witnessed in this country. The first 
settlers were emigrants from countries advanced in civilization, 
and they brought with them the arts of civilized life. A great 
portion of them were men distinguished for intelligence and 
enterprise, and were strenuous advocates for civil and religious 
liberty ; and, at the first foundation of their settlements, they 
paid particular attention to the promotion of education. A 
vast field of enterprise has been constantly presented before 
them, with ample rewards to industry. The means. of subsist- 
ence have been abundant and easily obtained ; and extensive 
tracts of fertile and unoccupied lands, suitable for new settle- 
ments, have always been procurable on moderate terms. The 
political and commercial relations of the inhabitants have con- 
nected them with the most enlightened nations in the world ; 



* The national existence of the United States, properly so called, com- 
menced July 4th, 1776. Before that period, the inhabitants were in a 
state of colonial dependence on Great Britain, and were styled the Brit- 
ish Colonies in America. Louisiana, which was formerly a French col- 
ony, and Florida, formerly a Spanish one, and Texas, New Mexico, and 
California, all of which formerly formed a part of Mexico, have since 
been annexed to the United States. 



260 UNITED STATES. 

and have afforded them the means of being acquainted with 
the progress of literature and science, and with the various 
improvements in the arts of civilized life. 

3. The colonization of this country originated either in re- 
ligious persecution, carried on in England against the Puri- 
tans and other denominations of Christians, or in visionary 
schemes of adventurers, who set out for the new world in quest 
of settlements, and in pursuit of gain. It was the former 
cause which peopled the colonies of New England; and it 
was to the latter that the colonies of Virginia and New York 
owed their origin. These may be considered as the original 
or parent colonies. 

4. They struggled long with the hardships and difficulties 
incident to all new establishments on barbarous shores, remote 
from civilized society, and from the means of procuring aid in 
supplying their wants, and in protecting themselves against the 
hostilities to which they were exposed. They were, at times, 
reduced to great extremities by sickness, disease, and want, 
and by the attacks and depredations of the Indians, insomuch 
that, in some instances, it was resolved to abandon the settle- 
ment of the country as impracticable. All these impediments, 
however, being gradually overcome by perseverance, industry, 
and enterprise, the colonies at last began to flourish, and to in- 
crease both in wealth and population. 

5. The first grant from the crown of England, under which 
effectual settlements were made in North America, was dated 
April 10, 1606. By this charter, all the country in America, 
between lat. 34° and 45° N., was called Virginia. But, by 
this charter, two companies were constituted ; one called the 
London Company, the other the Plymouth Company. To the 
former was assigned the territory between lat. 34° and 41° N., 
called South Virginia ; to the latter, the part of the territory 
lying to the north, called North Virginia. 

6. Some unsuccessful attempts to form a settlement in Vir- 
ginia, before this charter was granted, have been already men- 
tioned. The first effectual attempt was made in 1607, by a 
company of 105 adventurers, who came in a vessel com- 
manded by Captain Newport. They sailed up the Powhatan 
or James River, built a fort, and commenced a town, which, 
in honor of king James, they called Jamestown. The gov- 
ernment of the colony was, at first, administered by a coun- 
cil of seven persons, with a president chosen from among their 
number. 

7. The name of the first president was Wingjield ; but the 
most distinguished member of the council was Captain John 



UNITED STATES. 261 

Smith, who was the second year chosen president, and who 
has been styled the Father of the colony. He had commanded 
a company of cavalry in the Austrian army, in a war with the 
Turks ; and had been taken prisoner and sent to Constantinople 
as a slave, from which condition he had extricated himself. 
He was a man of undaunted courage, romantic disposition, and 
an ardent spirit of enterprise ; and to his superior talents the 
company were greatly indebted for their success. 

8. The colonists were soon involved in contests with the 
Indians, whose hostilities against the English were not unpro- 
voked, as they had been previously treated by them with cru- 
elty. In 1585, Sir Richard Grenville burnt a whole Indian 
town, and destroyed their corn, in revenge for their stealing a 
silver cup ; and Mr. Lane, the leader of the adventurers left 
by Sir Richard, slew a sachem, and killed and took captive 
several Indians. 

9. The year in which the settlement was commenced, an 
accident happened to Captain Smith, which lent to his history 
the attraction of romance. While engaged in hunting, he was 
taken prisoner by a body of 200 Indians ; but he so charmed 
them by his arts and his valor that they released him. Soon 
afterwards, he was again taken by another party of 300, who 
carried him in triumph before Powhatan, the greatest chief in 
the region. 

10. The sentence of death was pronounced upon him ; his 
head was placed on a stone, and the savages were* about to beat 
out his brains, when Pocahontas, the favorite daughter of the 
chief, who was only about twelve years of age, after having in 
vain implored mercy for him, rushed forward, and, placing her 
head upon that of the captive, appeared determined to share 
his fate. Powhatan relented, and set the prisoner free. 

11. Two years afterwards (1609), Pocahontas gave infor- 
mation to Captain Smith of a plot formed by the Indians for 
the destruction of the colony, which was, by this means, pre- 
vented. This extraordinary Indian female was afterwards 
married, with the consent of her father, to Mr. Rolfe, a re- 
spectable young planter. Their nuptials were celebrated with 
great pomp, and Pocahontas was highly useful in preserving 
peace between the colonists and Indians. She accompanied 
her husband to England ; was instructed in the Christian re- 
ligion, and baptized. She died soon after her return to Amer- 
ica, at the age of about 22, leaving one son, from whom are 
sprung some of the most respectable families in Virginia. 

12. During the first year, the colonists suffered severely by 
the scarcity and badness of provisions ; diseases were in con- 
sequence introduced, which, in a few months, swept away one 



262 UNITED STATES. 

half of their number. But others were added by new arrivals, 
so that, at the end of the year, they amounted to 200. 

13. In the latter part of the year 1609, Captain Smith, at 
once the shield and sword of the colony, returned to England. 
Soon after his departure, the company was reduced to the 
greatest extremities. A party of 30 men, under Captain Rat- 
cliffe, were all slain by the Indians ; and, in consequence of a 
waste of provisions, a most distressing famine prevailed (1610), 
which was known, for many years afterwards, by the name of 
the starving time. 

14. So dreadful was its effect, that, in the space of six months, 
the colonists were reduced from nearly 500 to 60. This small 
remainder, being exceedingly enfeebled and disheartened, re- 
solved to abandon the settlement and -return to England, and 
for this purpose they had actually embarked ; but, meeting 
with Lord Delaware, who had been appointed governor, under 
a new charter, with 150 men, and a large supply of provisions 
they were induced to remain ; and the affairs of the company 
soon began to assume a more auspicious appearance. 

15. At the expiration of twelve years from the first settle- 
ment, there remained only about 600 persons ; but, during the 
year 1619, the number was increased by the arrival of eleven 
ships, bringing 1,216 new settlers. The planters were mostly 
adventurers, destitute of families, and came with the hope of 
obtaining wealth, intending eventually to return : but with a 
view to make their residence permanent, and attach them to 
the country, an expedient was devised for supplying them with 
wives ; and for this purpose, in the years 1620 and 1621, 150 
unmarried females, " young and uncorrupt," were sent over 
from England, to be sold to such as were inclined to purchase. 
The price of a wife, at first, was 100 pounds of tobacco ; but, 
as the number for sale decreased, the price was raised to 150 
pounds, the tobacco being valued at three shillings a pound. 
In 1620, 20 negroes were carried to Virginia in a Dutch vessel 
of war, and sold for slaves. This was the commencement, in 
English America, of the unhappy system of slavery. 

16. The colonists, having turned their attention to agricul- 
ture, particularly to the cultivation of tobacco, and their num- 
bers being increased yearly by the arrival of new emigrants, 
began to enjoy a degree of prosperity, when, in 1622, they 
experienced a stroke which came near proving fatal. Ope- 
cancanough, the successor of Powhatan, concerted a plan for 
the destruction of the settlement ; and in so artful a manner 
was the plot devised, that it might have been effectually ac- 
complished, if a large part of the colonists had not been in- 
formed of it a few hours before the time appointed for its 



UNITED STATES. 263 

execution. The Indians, notwithstanding, succeeded in put- 
ting to death, almost instantaneously, 347 persons. A war of 
extermination followed this massacre ; not long afterwards, 
another distressing famine ; and in 1624, of 9,000 persons who 
had been sent from England, only 1,800 remained in the col- 
ony. But its severe losses were soon repaired by new arrivals. 

17. The colony suffered by restrictions on its trade and by 
the arbitrary government of Sir John Harvey ; but, in 1639, 
Sir William Berkeley, a man of superior talents, was appointed 
governor ; and during his administration, which lasted, except 
during the protectorate of Cromwell, nearly 40 years, it was 
generally prosperous. The restrictions, however, imposed 
upon its trade by Charles II., occasioned discontents, and, 
in 1676, near the end of Berkeley's administration, gave rise 
to an insurrection, memorable in the history of Virginia, and 
known by the name of Bacon's Rebellion, so called from its 
leader. Many parts of the colony were given up to pillage ; 
Jamestown was burnt ; and all the horrors of a civil war were 
felt for a time, till at last the rebellion was terminated by the 
death of Bacon. 

18. The population, in 1660, amounted to about 30,000 ; 
and, in the 28 succeeding years, the number was doubled. 
The first adventurers came out with the hope of acquiring 
wealth by the discovery of the precious metals ; and the ships 
in which they arrived were sent back, one of them loaded by 
the miners with a glittering earth, which they vainly hoped 
contained gold; the other, loaded with cedar. About 1616, 
the cultivation of tobacco was commenced, which soon became 
the chief object of attention with the colonists, and constituted 
the principal part of their property. It formed the medium 
of trade, and was received by the government in the payment 
of taxes. 

19. In 1609, Henry Hudson, an Englishman in the service 
of the Dutch, on a voyage in quest of a north-west passage to 
India, discovered the noble river which bears his name. The 
first permanent settlements were made by Dutch adventurers, 
who erected two forts, in or about the year 1614, one at Al- 
bany, the other on Manhattan Island, where the city of New 
York now stands. The country was called New Netherlands, 
and the settlement on Manhattan Island was named New Am- 
sterdam ; which names they retained till the conquest of the 
country by the English. 

20. The colony was in the possession of the Dutch about 50 
years, and the government was administered by three succes- 
sive governors, namely, Van Twiller, Kieft, and Stuyvesant. 



264 UNITED STATES. 

The extension of the English settlements gave rise to misun- 
derstandings, and the Dutch governors were engaged in a 
series of disputes and contests. 

21. In 1664, Charles II. of England, being then at war with 
the Dutch, granted the country to his brother, the Duke of 
York : Governor Stuyvesant was compelled to capitulate to an 
English force, under Colonel NicJwlls ; the whole territory 
became subject to the British crown, and, in honor of the duke, 
the country and city were named New York. 

22. The Plymouth Company, to whom the country of North 
Virginia was assigned, commenced a small settlement on the 
river Sagadahoc, or Kennebec, in 1607, the same year in which 
Jamestown was founded ; but it was soon abandoned. In 1614, 
Captain Smith, having visited the country, and examined its 
shores and harbors, on his return to England, constructed a 
map of it, which he presented to Prince Charles, who changed 
its name from North Virginia to New England ; and a patent 
was granted by King James, in 1620, to the Duke of Lenox, 
Ferdinando Gorges, and others, styled " The Council of 
Plymouth, in the county of Devon, for settling and govern- 
ing New England." This patent granted to them the country 
extending from lat. 40° to 48° N. ; and it was the foundation 
of the subsequent grants of the several parts of the territory. 

23. In the year in which this patent was granted, the first 
permanent settlement was commenced in New England, at 
Plymouth, in Massachusetts, by 101 Puritans, a class of dis- 
senters from the Church of England, who were now beginning 
to become numerous, and who were called Puritans, because 
they were desirous of a. purer form of discipline and worship. 
This small colony formed a part of the congregation of John 
Robinson, who is regarded as the founder of the denomination 
of Independents . or Congregationalists. 

24. Being driven from England by persecution, several years 
before, the congregation, together with their minister, had fled 
to Holland ; but a part of them were, at length, induced to 
seek an asylum, where they might enjoy religious liberty, in 
the wilds of America. The principle of religious toleration 
was not, at this period, understood or practised by any denom- 
ination of Christians. The Puritans were severely persecuted 
by the Church of England ; but their own principles, also, 
were intolerant ; and, in their turn, they persecuted those who 
differed from them. 

25. The colonists sailed, on the 6th of September, 1620, 
from Plymouth in England, in the Mayflower, for Hudson's 
Kiver, in the neighborhood of which they intended to settle ; 



UNITED STATES. 265 

but they were carried, by head winds, farther to the north ; and 
the first land which they discovered was Cape Cod. They ar- 
rived on the coast in November ; and, as they had not de- 
termined on the place for their settlement, parties were de- 
spatched to explore the country, who, after incredible suffering 
from the severity of the weather, found a harbor. Here they 
landed, December 22d, 1620, and began to build a town, which 
they called Plymouth, from the name of the town which they 
last left in England. 

26. The difficulties and sufferings which they had to en- 
counter were sufficient to dishearten men of ordinary resolu- 
tion. Cast upon an unknown and barbarous coast, in a severe 
climate, and at an inclement season ; worn down with their 
long voyage, excessive fatigue, the severity of the weather, 
and the want of comfortable provisions and habitations, they 
were, soon after their arrival, visited with distressing sickness, 
and, in three months, reduced to about one half of their origi- 
nal number. The sickness was so general, that, at some times, 
there were only six or seven well persons in the company. 

27. They instituted a republican form of government, and 
chose John Carver for their first governor, who, dying in 1621, 
was succeeded by William Bradford. The governor, who 
was chosen annually, had at first but one assistant ; afterwards 
five ; and the number was, at length, increased to seven. On 
the opening of the spring, they sowed barley and peas, which 
produced but an indifferent crop. They were assisted in plant- 
ing and dressing Indian corn or maize, which they had never 
before seen, by Squanto, a friendly Indian : this afforded them 
a great part of their subsistence ; and it has ever since been a 
staple production of the country. For several years the whole 
property of the settlers was held in common. 

28. In order to protect themselves against the hostilities of 
the Indians, they formed a military organization, and Miles 
St.andish was chosen their captain. — In March, 1621, they 
were visited by Samoset, a sagamore or petty sachem, who ad- 
dressed them with the friendly salutation of " Welcome, Eng- 
lishmen ! Welcome, Englishmen ! " From him they obtained 
important information respecting the country, and learned that, 
not long before, a mortal pestilence had swept off* almost all 
the Indians in the vicinity. By his assistance they entered 
into a treaty of peace and friendship with Massasoit, sachem 
of the Wampanoags, who was the most powerful Indian chief 
in the region. This treaty, which was of great importance to 
the colony, was strictly observed till the commencement of 
Philip's war, a period of 54 years. 

29. During subsequent years, there were numerous arrivals 

23 



266 UNITED STATES. 

of other persons from England, whose character and views 
were similar to those of the first settlers at Plymouth. In 
1628, the foundation was laid of the colony of Massachusetts 
Bay, by a company of adventurers under John Endicott, who 
formed a settlement at Naumkeag, now Salem; and in 1630, 
1,500 persons, under John Winthrop, who was appointed gov- 
ernor, arrived at Charlestown, and soon afterwards commenced 
the settlement of Boston and other towns in the vicinity. 

30. In 1623, the settlement of New Hampshire was com- 
menced at Dover and Portsmouth, by persons sent out by John 
Mason and Ferdinando Gorges, to whom the country had been 
granted. The former became afterwards sole proprietor of a 
large part of the country, and the claims of his heirs furnished 
a fruitful source of contention. The settlements were annexed 
to Massachusetts in 1641, and so continued till 1679, when a 
separate government was instituted for New Hampshire. 

31. In 1635, the settlement of the colony of Connecticut was 
begun, at Windsor and Wether sjield, by about 60 persons from 
Massachusetts ; and, in 1638, the colony of New Haven was 
commenced by Theophilus Eaton, John Davenport, and others. 
These colonies were united into one in 1665. 

32. The settlement of Rhode Island was commenced in 
1636, at Providence, by Roger Williams, a minister of the 
Gospel, who had been banished from Massachusetts on account 
of his religious opinions. 

33. As the quiet enjoyment of religious liberty was the lead- 
ing cause of the formation of these settlements, the founders 
of them were particularly solicitous with regard to the support 
and encouragement of religion. Among the early settlers, 
there were many men of talents and liberal education ; and a 
wilderness has probably never been planted by a body of men 
who were more mindful of the interests of learning, or more 
attentive to the establishment of schools. In ten years after 
the first settlement of Massachusetts Bay, Harvard College 
was founded at Cambridge. 

34. The colonists were possessed of many excellent traits 
of character. Their enterprise and industry, their love of 
liberty, their attention to education, their morality and piety, 
entitle them to respect and admiration. They were not, how- 
ever, without faults, some of which were vices of the age ; 
others belonged more particularly to themselves. 

35. With regard to differences in religious opinions, their 
views were narrow and intolerant. In some instances, it was 
enacted, that none except members of the church should have 
a right to vote at elections, or should be eligible to any office. 
Their rigid principles also appear in the severity with which 



UNITED STATES. 267 

they punished many offences, which are not now considered 
as properly coming under the cognizance of the civil law. 
The close inspection which they practised with regard to every 
man's principles and conduct, secured, for many years, very 
strict morals and great uniformity of doctrines. But it was 
not possible to prevent differences of opinion ; and when these 
arose, the severity with which those were treated, who avowed 
unpopular sentiments, occasioned many heart-burnings and 
mutual reproaches. 

36. The colonists landed in the country without having ob- 
tained the consent of the natives ; yet the principle upon which 
they proceeded was, before taking possession of the lands, to 
procure them by a regular purchase of the Indians, who were 
considered as the rightful owners of the soil. The treatment, 
however, which the Indians in America had generally received 
from European adventurers, had given them too much reason 
to distrust the friendly dispositions of white men ; and it must 
be acknowledged, that the New England colonists, in their 
proceedings with regard to this injured people, were not always 
pacific or just. 

37. In the third year after the formation of the settlement 
at Plymouth, Captain Standish, at the head of a small party, 
killed a number of Indians who had manifested hostile inten- 
tions. When an account of this transaction was sent to Mr. 
Robinson, in Holland, in his next letter to the governor, he ex- 
claimed, in a manner that does honor to his feelings, " O that 
you had converted some before you had killed any ! " The 
settlers at Plymouth and in Massachusetts Bay, however, had 
but little trouble with the Indians for many years. But the 
colony of Connecticut, in 1637, two years after it was first 
planted, was engaged in a severe contest with the Pequods, or 
Pequots, a warlike tribe, inhabiting a district now forming the 
south-east part of that state. The Pequods had previously 
made depredations on the infant settlement, and killed several 
individuals. The Indians were entirely defeated, at their set- 
tlement and forts on Mystic River, by the colonists, under 
Captain Mason, with the loss of between 600 and 700 killed 
and taken prisoners, being about two thirds of their whole 
number ; and 70 of their wigwams were also burnt. Of the 
English, only 2 were killed and 16 wounded. 

38. Not long after this contest, the colonists had strong ap- 
prehensions of a general combination of the Indians for extir- 
pating them ; the proceedings of the Dutch and the French 
also created alarm. In order, therefore, to promote their se- 
curity and welfare, the four colonies of Massachusetts Bay, 



268 UNITED STATES. 

Plymouth, Connecticut, and New Haven, united in a confed- 
eracy, in 1643, by the name of the United Colonies of New 
England. Each one elected two delegates, who were to as- 
semble by rotation, in the different colonies, annually, or oftener 
if necessary. This union, which subsisted a little more than 
40 years, till the colonies were deprived of their charters by 
James II., was of great service in promoting harmony among 
themselves, and increasing their means of defence. In it we 
may see the germ of that grand confederacy which led to 
American Independence. 

39. The most general and destructive Indian war, in which 
the colonies were ever involved, took place in 1675 and 1676, 
with Philip, king or sachem of the Wampanoags, and son of 
Massasoit, whose principal residence was at Mount Hope, in 
Rhode Island. He was the most formidable enemy that the 
colonists had ever known ; a man of great talents and un- 
daunted courage, a shrewd politician, and a great warrior. 

40. The Indian tribes, perceiving the English settlements 
extending in every direction, determined to make one great 
and combined effort to avoid the loss of their hunting-grounds, 
their inheritance, their liberty and independence. An exten- 
sive combination was accordingly formed among the different 
tribes, for the purpose of the total destruction of the colonies ; 
and of this combination Philip was the leader. 

41. A more immediate cause of the war was the circum- 
stance, that Sausaman, a Christian Indian, gave information to 
the colonists of the plot which had been formed against them, 
for which three Indians, at the instigation of Philip, murdered 
him. The murderers were tried and executed by the English. 
In order to avenge their death, Philip soon commenced his hos- 
tile attacks, and, by his agents, drew into the contest most of 
the tribes in New England. 

42. The Indians had now acquired, in some degree, the use 
of fire-arms. Hostilities were conducted with great spirit and 
energy on both sides, and with the usual ferocity of savage 
warfare. The greatest battle, not only during this contest, but 
in the early history of the country, is known by the name of 
the Swamp Fight, which took place in December, 1675, in the 
Narraganset country, at the Indian fortress, in a large swamp 
situated in the western part of what is now the township of 
South Kingston. The English, who were commanded by Jo~ 
siah Winslow, Governor of Plymouth, obtained a great victory, 
yet with the loss of 230 men killed and wounded ; and among 
their slain were six brave captains. About 1,000 of the In- 
dians are supposed to have perished, besides many women and 
children ; and 500 or 600 of their wigwams were burnt. 



UNITED STATES. 269 

43. The Indians never entirely recovered from the effect of 
this defeat. They were not, however, subdued, but continued 
their depredations by massacring the inhabitants and burning 
the towns. At length, in August, 1676, the great warrior 
Philip was shot by an Indian whom he had offended, and who 
joined a party under the famous Captain Benjamin Church. 
This was a fatal stroke to the power of the aborigines, and 
excited the liveliest joy and exultation in the colonies. Most 
of the hostile Indians soon afterwards submitted, or retreated 
from the country. After the termination of this conflict, the 
principal sufferings which the New England colonies endured 
from the hostilities of the Indians took place during the wars 
with the French, who employed the savages as auxiliaries. 

44. This war afflicted almost every family in New England 
with the most painful privations. The whole English popula- 
tion was computed, at this time, to amount to about 60,000, 
of which nearly 600 men, comprising a considerable part of 
the strength of the country, fell during the contest, besides 
many women and children ; and others were led into a miser- 
able captivity. About 600 buildings, mostly dwelling-houses, 
were consumed ; 12 or 13 towns were destroyed, many others 
damaged, and many cattle killed. The country was in deep 
mourning, there being scarcely a family or an individual who 
had not lost either a relative or a friend. 

45. The founder of Maryland was Sir George Calvert, Lord 
Baltimore, a Roman Catholic, and an eminent statesman, who 
had been secretary to James I. He first visited Virginia, with 
a view to form a settlement of Catholics ; but, meeting there 
with an unwelcome reception, he fixed his attention on the ter- 
ritory to the north of the Potomac, and obtained a grant of it 
from Charles I. From the queen of Charles, Henrietta Maria, 
the country was named Maryland. But, before the patent was 
completed, Sir George died, and the grant was given to his 
eldest son, Cecilius, who succeeded to his titles, and for up- 
wards of 40 years directed the affairs of the colony, displaying 
an enlightened understanding and a benevolent heart. 

46. Leonard Calvert, brother to Cecilius, was appointed the 
first governor ; and he, together with about 200 persons, com- 
menced the settlement of the town of St. Mary's, in 1634. 
The leading features of the policy adopted in this colony do 
honor to the founders. Universal toleration of religion was 
established, and a system of equity and humanity was practised 
with regard to the Indian tribes. 

47. In 1681, the celebrated William Penn obtained of 

23* 



270 UNITED STATES. 

Charles II. a grant of the tract of country afterwards named 
from him Pennsylvania. It was granted to him in consider- 
ation of debts due from the crown of England for services 
performed by his father, Admiral Penn. In 1682, he arrived 
in the country, accompanied by about 2,000 associates, who 
were, most of them, like himself, of the denomination of 
Friends or Quakers ; and in the next year he laid out the plan 
of the city of Philadelphia. 

48. This great man and wise legislator made civil and re- 
ligious liberty the basis of all his institutions. Christians of all 
denominations might not only live unmolested, but have a share 
in the government. In his intercourse with the Indians, he 
was governed by the strictest principles of equity and hu- 
manity, treating them as men and brethren, possessing the 
same rights as white men. Soon after his arrival, he sum- 
moned them to a council, and obtained of them, by fair pur- 
chase, a cession of as much land as his exigencies required. 

49. The same course was pursued by his followers ; the 
treaties were preserved inviolate on both sides ; and a good 
understanding remained uninterrupted for more than 70 years. 
It was seen by mankind, with surprise, that kindness and good 
faith were a better protection than the sword, even to a settle- 
ment planted among savages ; and that this excellent man, by 
his humane, equitable, and pacific policy, without any warlike 
preparations or means of defence, secured to his colony peace, 
prosperity, and safety, far more effectually than Lycurgus se- 
cured the same advantages to his country, by rendering the 
Spartans a nation of soldiers. 

50. No one of the other colonies made so rapid advances in 
population and prosperity as this. The fertility of the soil, the 
salubrity of the climate, the uninterrupted peace with the na- 
tives, and the enjoyment of civil and religious liberty, held out 
inducements to the Quakers, and other persecuted and oppressed 
people in Europe, to seek an asylum in Pennsylvania. 

51. In the original foundation of Rhode Island, by Roger 
Williams ; of Maryland, by Lord Baltimore ; and, on a more 
extended scale, of Pennsylvania, by William Penn, the free 
toleration of religion was recognized ; and these were the first 
civil communities in which this liberal and enlightened prin- 
ciple was legally established and acted upon. The inhabitants 
of the New England colonies, with the exception of Rhode 
Island, in the early ages of their history, as has already been 
mentioned, persecuted those who differed from them with re- 
gard to religion ; and the inhabitants of Virginia harassed those 
who dissented from the Church of England. 



UNITED STATES. 271 



SECTION II. 

Oppressive Measures relating to the Colonies : French Wars ; 
Capture of Louisburg ; Expedition against Neio England ; 
Conquest of Canada. — From A. D. 1682 to 1763. 

1. From the time of the foundation of the first permanent 
English settlement in North America, the throne of England 
had been occupied by sovereigns of the Stuart Family, the in- 
fluence of whose arbitrary principles tended to increase the 
number of emigrants from Great Britain to America ; but this 
influence was also felt on this side of the Atlantic as well as 
on the other. The colonies were repeatedly alarmed by the 
danger of losing their charters, which were at last wrested from 
them ; and several of the governors appointed by the crown 
occasioned great uneasiness by their oppressive measures. 

2. A number of Englishmen, after having visited the colo- 
nies, and become, from different reasons, hostile to them, on 
their return to Great Britain, prejudiced the king and council 
against them. Of these, no one so much distinguished himself 
as Edward Randolph, who was sent over to America by 
Charles II., in 1676, and who, according to his own account, 
crossed the Atlantic 16 times in nine years, chiefly for the 
purpose of destroying the liberties of New England. This 
purpose he finally accomplished, and a writ was issued against 
the several charters in 1683. 

3. Sir Edmund Andros, who had been for some time Gov- 
ernor of New York, was appointed by James II. governor also 
of New England. He arrived in Boston, in 1686, and sum- 
moned the colonies to surrender their charters. The charter 
of Massachusetts was given up, but that of Connecticut was 

^concealed, by Captain Wadswortli, in the hollow of an oak in 
Hartford. Sir Edmund began with high professions of his 
good intentions ; but he soon threw off the mask, governed in 
the most oppressive manner, and attempted to render himself 
as despotic in America as the king was disposed to be in 
England. 

4. Happily, however, the reign of tyranny was of short du- 
ration : the arbitrary proceedings of James II. had rendered 
him so odious, that he was compelled to flee from his kingdom. 
The news of the Revolution of 1688, in England, and the ac- 
cession of William and Mary to the throne, was received, in 
this country, with ecstasy, and was regarded as an event which 
brought deliverance from despotism to America, as well as to 
Great Britain. The inhabitants of Boston seized Sir Edmund, 



272 UNITED STATES. 

together with Randolph and about 50 others, and put them in 
close confinement, where they were kept till the leaders were 
ordered back to England for trial. Connecticut and Rhode 
Island immediately resumed their charters, and reestablished 
their former government. 

5. The people of Massachusetts Bay petitioned the king for 
a restoration of their charter. This was, however, refused ; 
but a new charter, less favorable to liberty than the old one, 
was granted, in 1692, by which the colonies of Massachusetts 
Bay and Plymouth were united into one, by the name of Mas- 
sachusetts ; to which were also annexed the provinces of Maine 
and Nova Scotia. 

6. Under the old charter, the governor, together with all the 
magistrates and officers of state, was chosen annually by the 
general assembly, the members of which and the assistants of 
the governor were elected by the freemen of the colony. By 
the new charter, the appointment of the governor, lieutenant- 
governor, secretary, and the officers of the admiralty, was 
taken from the colonists, and was vested in the crown. , The 
right of choosing representatives was the only privilege which 
was allowed to the people. In order to render the change 
more acceptable, the king appointed (1692) Sir William Phips, 
a native of Maine, the first governor under the charter. 

7. Scarcely, had the colonies emerged from- one scene of 
trouble before they were involved in another. The Revolu- 
tion in England restored, in a great measure, their liberties; 
but it soon subjected them to the evils of war with the French 
and the Indians. The war, during the reign of William and 
Mary, lasted from 1690 to the peace of Ryswick, in 1697 ; 
that during the reign of Queen Anne, from 1702 to the peace 
of Utrecht, in 1713. 

8. During the 25 years preceding the peace of Utrecht, the 
country had enjoyed only four or five years of exemption from 
war. For several years, not less than a fifth part of the in- 
habitants, able to bear arms, were in actual service, and some- 
times one half of the militia. Those who were not in service 
were obliged to guard their fields and families at home, and 
were subject to constant alarms. The resources of the coun- 
try were greatly diminished ; the aspect of affairs gloomy ; 
many fields untilled ; extensive tracts desolated ; the growth 
of the colonies exceedingly checked ; their frontiers laid waste ; 
several towns burnt ; and the greatest barbarities perpetrated. 

9. It has been computed that, during these wars in the col- 
onies of New England and New York, as many as 8,000 young 
men, the flower of the country, fell by the sword of the enemy, 



UNITED STATES. 273 

or by diseases contracted in the public service. Most of the 
families were in mourning for the loss of friends, who were 
either killed or led into a miserable captivity. 

10. After the peace of Utrecht, the colonies enjoyed, for 
some years, a state of comparative tranquillity. But, in 1744, 
another war broke out between Great Britain and France, of 
which the effects were felt in America, and which was here 
rendered memorable, chiefly by the capture of Louisburg, on 
the island of Cape Breton, by troops from New England, un- 
der the command of General Sir William Pepperell. Louis- 
burg had been fortified by the French at a vast expense, and 
was a place of such immense strength, as to be called the Dun- 
kirk or Gibraltar of America ; and the reduction of it was 
deemed an object of the highest importance to New England. 

11. The troops under the command of General Pepperell, 
amounting to 4,070, the greater part from Massachusetts, ar- 
rived at Canso, on the 4th of April, 1745, and, in three weeks 
after, were joined by Commodore Warren, with four ships from 
England. The siege was soon after commenced, and continued 
till the 16th of June, when Louisburg, together with the island 
of Cape Breton, was surrendered by the French commander. 

12. The news of this brilliant achievement occasioned great 
exultation in the colonies, and encouraged them to attempt the 
conquest of all the French possessions in North America. It 
also roused the government of France to seek revenge ; and, 
in 1746, an armament, under the Duke oVAnville, was sent to 
America, consisting of 11 ships of the line, and 30 smaller 
vessels of war, besides transports, with upwards of 3,000 regu- 
lar troops, and 40,000 stands of arms for the use of the Cana- 
dians and Indians. The object of this armament, which was 
the most formidable that had ever been sent to North America, 
was to recover Louisburg, and to distress, if not to conquer, 
New England. 

13. The first intelligence of the sailing of this fleet filled the 
colonists with consternation ; but they were delivered from 
their fears in a most extraordinary and providential manner. 
The fleet had a long and disastrous passage, and sustained so 
great damages by storms, and losses by shipwrecks, that, on its 
arrival, the force was reduced more than one half. A mortal 
sickness prevailed among the troops, which carried off* a great 
part of them ; and the two principal commanders died sud- 
denly, one or both of them by suicide, in a fit of despair. 

14. The remaining ships returned singly to France, without 
having accomplished a single object of the expedition ; and the 
whole design against the colonies was frustrated without the 



274 UNITED STATES. 

intervention of human aid. — By the peace of Aix-Ia-Chapdle, 
in 1748, Louisburg was given up to France, to the no small 
mortification of the colonies. 

15. The French, having been the first discoverers of the river 
Mississippi, claimed the country watered by it and its tributa- 
ries ; and, in the succeeding period of peace, they made great 
exertions to connect their colonics of Canada and Louisiana, by 
extending the line of military posts from Lake Ontario to the 
Ohio, and down that river and the Mississippi to New Orleans. 

16. A company of persons belonging to England and Vir- 
ginia, associated by the name of the Ohio Company, obtained 
from the king a grant of 600,000 acres of land, on and near 
the Ohio, for the purpose of carrying on the fur trade with the 
Indians, and settling the country ; ajjid they established some 
trading-houses on the river. But, as the French claimed an 
exclusive right to this country and its trade, they seized some 
of the traders, and carried them prisoners to Canada. 

17. The company complained loudly of these aggressions 
on a territory which had been ceded to it as a part of Virginia ; 
and Robert Dinwiddle, the governor, having laid the subject 
before the assembly of that colony, it was determined that it 
should be demanded, in the name of the king, that the French 
should desist from designs which were deemed a violation of 
existing treaties. George Washington, then in his 22d year, 
was, in 1753, sent on this service to M. de St. Pierre, the 
French commandant on the Ohio, who stated to Washington, 
that he had acted according to his orders. 

18. The British government, being informed of the designs 
of the French, directed the Americans to oppose them by force 
of arms. A regiment was soon formed, and put under the 
command of Washington, who was appointed colonel. Troops 
were raised throughout the colonies ; naval and land forces 
were sent from England ; and expeditions were, in 1755, sent 
against Nova Scotia, Crown Point, and Niagara. 

19. Another expedition against Fort du Quesne [now Pitts- 
burg] was commanded by General Braddock, who had two 
English regiments, and a body of colonial troops under Colonel 
Washington, the whole amounting to 1,200. Braddock was an 
officer of reputation, but neither he nor his English soldiers 
knew anything of savage warfare ; and, being attacked by a 
party of French and Indians in ambush, he was entirely de- 
feated, and himself slain. Of 86 officers, 63 were killed and 
wounded, and about half of the privates. Washington, who 
had two horses shot under him, and four balls shot through his 
coat, led off the remainder of the troops, remained unhurt, and 
acquired a high reputation for his good management. 



UNITED STATES. 275 

20. The expedition against Crown Point was commanded 
by General Johnson, who was met by the French army, under 
the command of Dieskau, on the banks of Lake George. A 
battle ensued, in which Dieskau was repulsed, with the loss of 
700 or 800 men, and himself mortally wounded ; but no at- 
tempt was made upon Crown Point. The expedition against 
Niagara and Fort Frontenac, under the command of Governor 
Shirley of Massachusetts, was delayed till it became too late 
in the season to effect anything ; and the campaign closed 
without any one of the objects of the three expeditions having 
been attained. 

21. The war, which had been carried on two years without 
any formal proclamation, was at length declared in 1756. The 
Marquis de Montcalm succeeded Dieskau ; and the chief com- 
mand of the English troops was first given to the Earl of Lou- 
don, and afterwards to General Ahercrombie. Montcalm was 
an able commander, but the British generals were weak and 
inefficient ; and the campaigns of 1756 and 1757 brought re- 
proach both upon them and the British government, and occa- 
sioned chagrin and disappointment in the colonies. But a 
change having taken place (1757) in the English ministry, and 
William Pitt (afterwards Lord Chatham) being placed at the 
head of the administration, everything immediately assumed a 
new aspect. 

22. This great man, who was popular in America, addressed 
a circular letter to the colonial governors, assuring them that 
an effectual force should be sent from England, and calling 
upon them to raise as large bodies of men as the population 
would allow. The number of men brought into the service 
was 50,000, of which 20,000 were raised in America. Three 
expeditions were resolved on for the year 1758 ; the first 
against Louisburg, the second against Ticonderoga, and the 
third against Fort du Quesne. 

23. In the expedition against Louisburg, the land forces, 
amounting to 14,000, were led by General Amherst, next to 
whom in command was General Wolfe ; and a large naval 
armament was commanded by Admiral Boscawen. After a 
considerable resistance, the fortress was surrendered, with the 
garrison, consisting of nearly 6,000 men, and a great quantity 
of military stores. This was the severest blow the French had 
received since the commencement of the war. 

24. The attack on Ticonderoga was conducted by General 
Ahercrombie, the commander-in-chief; but, owing to his inju- 
dicious management, he was repulsed with the loss of about 
2,000 men. A detachment of 3,000 men, under Colonel Brad- 
street, took and destroyed Fort Frontenac. The expedition 



276 UNITED STATES. 

against Fort du Quesne was conducted by General Forbes, who 
took possession of the post, and changed its name to Pittsburg. 
After the disaster at Ticonderoga, Abercrombie fell into con- 
tempt, and the chief command was given to General Amherst. 

25. The campaign of 1759 had for its object the entire con- 
quest of Canada. The British army was divided into three 
parts : the first division, under General Wolfe, was to make an 
attempt on Quebec ; the second, under General Amherst, was 
to attack Ticonderoga and Crown Point ; and the third, under 
General Prideaux, was to be directed against the stronghold 
of Niagara. 

26. On the approach of Amherst, Ticonderoga and Crown 
Point were evacuated. Niagara was besieged, and, after a se- 
vere action, it fell into the hands of the English ; but, four 
days before the conquest, General Prideaux was killed. 

27. By the taking of these forts, great advantages were 
gained ; but a far more important and arduous enterprise was 
intrusted to the heroic General Wolfe. This was the reduction 
of Quebec, a place of immense strength, both by nature and 
art, and protected by about 10,000 men, under that able and 
hitherto successful general, Montcalm. But the difficulties 
which the English general had to surmount served only to in- 
flame his ardent mind, and his military enthusiasm. Having 
landed his army, consisting of 8,000 men, on the island of Or- 
leans, below Quebec, he made some unsuccessful attempts to 
reduce the city. 

28. He then conceived the bold design of scaling, during 
the night, a steep precipice on the north bank of the river, and 
in this way to reach the Heights or Plains of Abraham behind 
the city, where it was least defensible. This he effected before 
Montcalm was aware of his design, and the whole army was 
arrayed on the plains before sunrise. A hot battle followed, 
in which the French were entirely defeated, with the loss of 
1,500 men, and their four principal commanders: the English 
lost 500, together with their two first officers. The two great 
rivals, Wolfe and Montcalm, were both mortally wounded be- 
fore the battle was terminated. 

29. Wolfe, having received a fatal wound, was carried to 
the rear ; where, at his request, he was raised up, that he might 
take a view of the engagement. Faint with the loss of blood, 
and his eyes dimmed by the approach of death, he was roused 
at the words, " They fly, they fly ! " " Who fly ? " he ex- 
claimed. He was told, " The enemy ! " " Then," said the 
hero, " I die contented" ; and, having said this, he expired in 
the moment of victory. — The same military enthusiasm ani- 
mated Montcalm. Being told that he could not continue more 



UNITED STATES. 277 

than a few hours, he said, " It is so much the better ; I shall 
not then live to see the surrender of Quebec." 

30. Five days after this battle, the city of Quebec surren- 
dered to the English army and fleet ; and, in the following year 
( 1760), all Canada submitted. By the peace of Paris, in 1763, 
the French northern possessions in America — Canada, Nova 
Scotia, and the island of Cape Breton — were confirmed to 
Britain. The success of this war, joyful as it was to England, 
was still more so to the Colonies, who now expected a release 
from the heavy calamities which they had long suffered from 
hostilities with the French and Indians. 



SECTION III. 

Disputes between Great Britain and the Colonies ; Commence- 
ment of Hostilities ; Battles of Lexington and Bunker Hill ; 
Declaration of Independence. — From A. D. 1763 to 1776. 

1. The colonists, from the time of the first settlement of the 
country, had been ardently attached to liberty, and extremely 
jealous of any invasion of their rights. The emigrants from 
England to America had been induced to leave their native 
land principally by the idea that they might escape from op- 
pression and arbitrary power, and might enjoy freedom, both 
civil and religious. They cherished, however, a strong attach- 
ment to the parent country as the land of their forefathers, 
always acknowledged themselves subjects of the crown of 
Great Britain, and were loyal and faithful subjects. 

2. Notwithstanding their various embarrassments, the long 
and distressing wars with the Indians and French, and the 
severe restrictions which were imposed by Great Britain upon 
their trade, and which were borne, in some instances, with ex- 
treme impatience, — yet, amidst these difficulties, the Colonies 
made rapid progress in wealth and population, and in all the 
arts of civil life ; and, at the peace of 1763, they had risen to 
a high state of prosperity. They abounded in spirited and ac- 
tive individuals of all denominations. 

3. After the conquest of Canada had freed them from the dis- 
tresses occasioned by war with the French and savages, and 
given them a short interval of repose, troubles assailed them 
from a new and unexpected quarter. The mother country be- 
gan speedily to assert her sovereignty over them, and to inter- 
fere in their civil concerns in a manner which excited the most 
serious alarm. 

24 



278 UNITED STATES. 

4. The war, which Great Britain had carried on in defence 
of her American possessions, had made a vast addition to her 
national debt, and greatly increased the burdens of her sub- 
jects ; and a plan of raising a revenue, by taxing the Colonies, 
was formed by parliament, under pretext that the mother coun- 
try might obtain indemnification for the expenses of the war. 

5. But it was maintained, on the other hand, by the Colonies, 
that, if the war had been waged by Great Britain on their ac- 
count, it was because they were useful to her ; that, by the 
advantages which she derived from the monopoly of their com- 
merce, she was interested in their defence ; that, by the happy 
termination of the war, they derived no benefit which was not 
a source of ultimate profit to the mother country ; and that 
their own exertions had been greater in proportion to their 
ability than hers. They also urged their claim to all the rights 
of English subjects, and maintained that, of these rights, none 
was more indisputable than that no subject could be deprived 
of his property but by his own consent, expressed in person or 
by his representatives. 

6. In the beginning of the year 1764, parliament passed an 
act by which duties were laid on goods imported from such 
West India islands as did not belong to Great Britain ; and Mr. 
Grenville, the prime minister, proposed a resolution, " that it 
would be proper to charge certain stamp duties on the Colo- 
nies," but postponed the consideration of that subject to a fu- 
ture session. These proceedings occasioned great uneasiness 
and alarm, and were remonstrated against by the Colonies. 

7. The system, however, was persisted in by parliament, 
and, early in the next year, the Stamp Act was passed (1765), 
laying a duty on all paper used for instruments of writing, as 
deeds, notes, &c, and declaring writings on unstamped mate- 
rials to be null and void. The news of this measure caused a 
great sensation throughout the country. The assembly of Vir- 
ginia, being in session when the information arrived, first de- 
clared its opposition to the act by a number of spirited resolu- 
tions, which were brought forward by Patrick Henry ; and the 
assembly of Massachusetts, before what had been done in Vir- 
ginia was known, besides passing resolutions opposed to the 
claims of the British parliament, took measures to secure the 
benefit of united counsels in the common cause, and proposed a 
General Congress, from the several Colonies, to be held at New 
York. In all the Colonies, a determined spirit of resistance 
was soon manifested. 

8. When the news of the stamp act arrived at Boston, the 
bells were muffled, and rung a funeral peal. The crown offi- 
cers were insulted ; their houses broken open or demolished ; 



UNITED STATES. 279 

and, among other outrages, the populace destroyed a valuable 
collection of original papers belonging to the governor, Thomas 
Hutchinson, and relating to the history of America. A similar 
spirit was manifested in the other Colonies ; and, in New York, 
the act was hawked about the streets with a Death's head 
affixed to it, and styled " The Folly of England and the Ruin 
of America." The merchants also associated, and agreed to 
a resolution not to import any more goods from Great Britain 
until the act should be repealed. 

9. A Colonial Congress, consisting of 28 delegates, appoint- 
ed by the assemblies of nine of the Colonies, assembled on the 
7th of October, in 1765, at New York, and published a declar- 
ation of their rights and their grievances, insisting particularly 
on the right of exclusively taxing themselves, and complaining 
loudly of the stamp act. The merchants of Boston, New 
York, and Philadelphia, entered into an agreement not to im- 
port or sell any British goods so long as the offensive measure 
should be continued. So general was the opposition, that the 
stamp officers, in all the Colonies, were compelled to resign ; 
and the act was never executed. A change took place in the 
British cabinet, and through the exertions of Mr. Pitt, Lord 
Camden, and others, the stamp act was repealed in March, 
1766 ; but the repeal was preceded by a declaration of parlia- 
ment, " that they had, and of right ought to have, power to 
bind the Colonies in all cases whatsoever." 

10. The favorite project of the British ministry, of taxing 
America, was still persisted in ; and in June, 1767, an act was 
passed by parliament, imposing a duty on tea, paper, glass, 
and painters'' colors. To render the act effectual, a custom- 
house was established in Boston, with a board of commissioners 
for the Colonies ; and in September, 1768, two British regi- 
ments arrived in the town. Another most arbitrary measure 
of parliament, which gave great offence, was a proposition that 
offenders in Massachusetts should be sent to England for trial. 

11. The feelings of the Americans were now greatly exas- 
perated. To a free and high-spirited people, the presence of 
an insolent soldiery, sent with a design to intimidate them, 
could not but be extremely odious and provoking. The causes 
of irritation were numerous ; quarrels daily occurred between 
the soldiers and the populace ; and on the 5th of March, 1770, 
an affray took place between a detachment of troops under 
Captain Preston, and some of the inhabitants of Boston, in 
which three of the latter were killed, and five dangerously 
wounded. The funeral of the deceased was conducted with 
great pomp and ceremony, expressive of the public grief and 
indignation. After the feelings of the people had, in some 



280 VNITI'A) .STATES. 

measure, subsided, Captain Preston and his soldiers were 
brought to trial before a court of the province, and a jury of* 
the neighborhood. They had for their counsel John Adams 

and Josiah Quincy, two lenders of the popular party, and were 
all acquitted, except two, who were convicted of manslaughter. 

12. During this year (1770), Lord North was appointed 
prime minister of England, and all the duties were repealed 
except the one of three pence per pound on tea. By this the 
British ministry intended to establish their right to raise a 

revenue in the Colonies; hut the Americans were determined 
to resist the principle of taxation in every shape. — The year 

of 177 .1, in relation to the matters in controversy, was not dis- 
tinguished by any important event. 

13. In July, 1772, the representatives of Massachusetts 
passed resolutions, expressing great dissatisfaction with the 
new regulation of the British government, by which the gov- 
ernor was to have his support from the crown. This measure 
they declared to he " an infraction of their charter." But the 
governor defended the measure. The inhabitants of Boston 
held a town meeting in November, in relation to this subject. 
A committee of correspondence was appointed ; and a report, 
setting forth the rights and the grievances of the colonists, was 
printed and circulated through the towns of the province. The 
towns generally responded to the report, declaring their opinion 
that their charter had, in many respects, been grossly violated. 

14. In 177'i, the inhabitants of New York and Philadelphia 
returned to England the tea ships which were sent to those 
cities ; but the people of Boston having failed in their attempts 
to carry into effect the same measure, about twenty persons, 
disguised like Indians, went on hoard the vessels, and threw the 
tea, consisting of 342 chests, into the harbor. 

15. — (1774.) — In consequence of these measures, parlia- 
ment passed further hostile acts ; and Boston, being regarded 
as the chief seat of rebellion, was selected as an object of ven- 
geanee. By one of the acts, called the " Boston Port Bill" 
all intercourse by water with that town was prohibited ; the 
government and public officers were removed to Salem; and 
power was given to the governor to send persons charged with 
high treason to be tried in Great Britain. A great part of the 
inhabitants of Boston were; suddenly deprived of the means of 
subsistence ; hut their sufferings were relieved by contributions 
forwarded from different parts. All these vindictive measures 
only served more firmly to unite the Americans in their resist- 
ance to the mother country. 

16. In May, General Gage, the commander-in-chief of the 
British forces in North America, arrived in Boston, cornmis- 



UNITED STATES. 281 

sioned as Governor of" Massachusetts, in place of Hutchinson, 

and, shortly after, two more regiments landed with artillery and 

military stores, — events whieh indicated the determination of 
the British government to reduce the Colonies to submission by 
f'oree of arms. 

17. When the Americans saw, by these proceedings, that a 
reconciliation was no longer to be expected, and that their 
rights were to he defended by an appeal to f'oree, they took 
measures to prepare themselves for the contest A commit- 
tee of correspondence was formed by distinguished men in 
Massachusetts, who framed an agreement, called a Solemn 
League and Covenant, by which they determined to suspend 
all intercourse with Great Britain, until their rights should be 

>red. 

18. The general court of Massachusetts resolved that a con- 
is of the Colonies was necessary : they also enrolled a body 

of men to be prepared for rn?jrching at. a minute's notice, and 
therefore called minute-men ; appointed five general officers to 
command them; formed a committee of safety; and took 
measures to collect military stores at Concord and Worcester. 

10. ( ')n the 4th of September, deputies from eleven of the 
Colonies met at Philadelphia, and the next day, having formed 
themseh D a congress, chose Peyton Randolph, of Vir- 

ginia, president, and Charles Thompson, secretary. This body, 
generally known by the name of the Continental Congress, 
was composed of 55 members, most of whom were men of 
distinguished character and talents. They published a declar- 
ation of the rights of the Colonies: agreed to suspend all com- 
mercial intercourse with Great Britain ; and drew up an address 
to the king, another to the people of Great Britain, and a third 
to the Colonies. These able state papers were highly ap 
plauded by Lord Chatham in the British parliament. 

20. The disparity between the two contending parties was 
immense. Great Britain was the first maritime power in the 
world, and posse ised great, wealth, vast resources, irell'd 
plined armies, and experienced and able military and naval 
commanders. The Colonies pc ■ none of these advan- 

tages, and bad no genera! government to control the contending 
interests of the different parts. They were almost entirely 

titute of experienced officers, of disciplined troops, of arms 
and munitions of war, of armed ships, and of revenue. Their 
want of these f . isential articles, particularly of regular and dis- 
ciplined troops, of good arms and ammunition, and more 
pecially of money, embarrassed all their operations during the 
continuance of the war. Their resolution to encage in the un- 
equal contest was regarded, in England, with the utmost con- 
24* 



282 UNITED STATES. 

tempt ; and it was confidently expected, by the British ministry, 
that their efforts would be speedily and easily crushed. 

21. — (1775,) — When the proceedings of the American 
congress were laid before parliament, a joint address of both 
Houses was presented to the king, declaring that a rebellion 
actually existed in Massachusetts, and beseeching his majesty 
to suppress it. In the winter and spring of 1775, the army in 
Boston was increased to 10,000, which number was deemed 
sufficient to reduce the rebellious Colonies to submission. 

22. Soon after, a bill was brought forward in parliament by 
Lord North, which he termed a conciliatory proposition, the 
purport of which was, that when any colony should make pro- 
vision for contributing its proportion to the common defence, 
and make such provision also for the support of its civil gov- 
ernment as should be approved by his majesty and the parlia- 
ment, the British government would abstain from taxing such 
colony, and confine itself to commercial regulations. The 
design of this proposition was to unite Great Britain, and di- 
vide America ; but it was universally rejected by the Colonies, 
and by the congress assembled at Philadelphia. It was derided 
also by the friends of America in parliament as nugatory, 
since it was the right, not the mode, of taxation which the Col- 
onies disputed. 

23. In February, General Gage sent a party of troops to 
Salem, to seize some cannon which had been lodged there ; 
but finding, on their arrival, that the cannon had been removed, 
they marched back unmolested. In April, he sent another 
body of troops, under Colonel Smith and Major Pitcairn, to 
seize some military stores at Concord. The march, though in 
the night, was discovered ; and early in the morning of the 
19th of the month, as they passed through Lexington, about 
70 men, belonging to the minute company of that town, were 
found on the green, or common, under arms. Major Pitcairn, 
riding up to them, called out, " Disperse, disperse, you rebels ! " 
Not being obeyed, he discharged his pistol, and ordered his 
troops to fire. Eight Americans were killed, and several 
wounded. Thus began the sanguinary contest which issued 
in the establishment of American Independence. 

24. Having dispersed the militia at Lexington, the British 
troops proceeded to Concord, and destroyed some military 
stores collected in that town. On their return, the passage of 
a bridge over Concord River was disputed ; a skirmish ensued, 
which was attended with some loss on both sides. The people 
of the neighborhood were soon in arms, and attacked the re- 
treating troops in all directions ; some firing behind stone walls 
and trees, and others pressing upon their rear, till they had re- 



UNITED STATES. 283 

turned as far as Lexington, where they were joined by a rein- 
forcement, which secured their retreat to Boston, after a loss 
of 65 killed and 180 wounded. Of the Americans, 50 were 
killed and 34 wounded. 

25. The affair at Lexington was a signal for war. The 
forts, magazines, and arsenals, throughout the Colonies, were 
instantly secured for the use of the Americans. Regular forces 
were raised ; an army of about 20,000 men was collected in the 
vicinity of Boston, and soon increased by a considerable body 
of troops from Connecticut, under Colonel (afterwards General) 
Putnam. By these forces the British troops were closely blocked 
up in the peninsula of Boston. 

26. An expedition, commanded by Colonel Ethan Allen and 
Colonel Benedict Arnold, was sent to Ticonderoga ; and another, 
commanded by Colonel Warner, to Crown Point ; and both 
those important fortresses were soon secured. 

27. The provincial congress of Massachusetts, which was in 
session at the time of the affair at Lexington, despatched an 
account of the transaction to England, with depositions to prove 
that the British troops were the aggressors. They declared 
their loyalty to the crown, but protested that they would not 
submit to the tyranny of the British ministry. " Appealing to 
Heaven for the justice of our cause," they added, " we deter- 
mine to die or be free." 

28. The second Continental or General Congress met at Phil- 
adelphia, in May, and the appellation of the United Colonies 
was assumed. The congress recommended the observance of 
a day of humiliation, to implore the blessings of Heaven on 
their sovereign, the King of Great Britain, and the interposition 
of Divine aid to remove their grievances, and restore harmony 
between the parent state and the Colonies, on constitutional 
terms. 

29. Towards the end of May, considerable reinforcements 
of British troops arrived at Boston, together with Generals 
Howe, Burgoyne, and Clinton, officers who had acquired a 
high reputation in the preceding war between England and 
France. Martial law was proclaimed ; but a show of recon- 
ciliation was still held out by the offer of General Gage, in the 
king's name, of pardon to all such as should return to their al- 
legiance, with the exception of two of the most active patriots 
in Massachusetts, John Hancock and Samuel Adams, the for- 
mer of whom was chosen president of the general congress 
then in session. 

30. It was determined by the Americans to annoy, and, if 
possible, to dislodge, the British forces in Boston ; and, for this 
purpose, a detachment of 1000 men, under the command of 



284 UNITED STATES. 

Colonel Prescott, was ordered, on the 16th of June, to throw 
up a breast-work on Bunker Hill, in Charlestown. They 
prosecuted the design so silently and expeditiously, that they 
had nearly completed the redoubt by the return of daylight, 
without being discovered. Soon after the dawn, the British 
began to cannonade the works from their ships ; and, in the 
morning, the Americans received a reinforcement of 500 men. 

31. About noon (11th of June), General Howe, at the head 
of 3,000 men, advanced to make an attack upon the works. 
The fire of the Americans was dreadful, insomuch that the 
whole British line recoiled, and was thrown into great disorder ; 
but, from the failure of ammunition, the Americans were 
obliged to retreat. The loss of the English amounted to 1,054 
in killed and wounded ; that of the Americans, to 453 ; and 
among their killed was the lamented Major-General Warren, 
who hastened to the field of battle as a volunteer. While the 
British troops were advancing, orders were given to set fire to 
Charlestown ; and the whole town, consisting of about 400 
houses, was laid in ashes. This barbarous act, which was of 
no advantage to the enemy, served still further to exasperate 
the Americans. 

32. Congress resolved on measures of defence ; drew up a 
second petition to the king, and addresses to the people of 
Great Britain and of Canada, setting forth their reasons for 
taking up arms ; and organized a continental army. It was a 
point of immense importance to select a suitable man for com- 
mander-in-chief. Fortunately, their choice, by a unanimous 
vote, fell upon George Washington, a member of their body 
from Virginia, who, in the late French war, had distinguished 
himself by his courage and talents. He received from nature 
a mind of extraordinary capacity, and was endowed with an 
uncommon degree of perseverance, prudence, and bravery ; 
while the soundness of his judgment, the elevation of his char- 
acter, and the purity of his motives, were calculated to inspire 
the highest confidence. He entered immediately upon the du- 
ties of his office ; and, on the 2d of July, he arrived at Cam- 
bridge, where he established his head-quarters. 

33. Congress, after choosing the commander-in-chief, ap- 
pointed four major-generals and eight brigadiers for the conti- 
nental army. The major-generals were Artemas Ward, Charles 
Lee, Philip Schuyler, and Israel Putnam ; the brigadier-gene- 
rals, Seth Pomroy, Richard Montgomery , David Wooster, Wil- 
liam Heath, Joseph Spencer, John Thomas, John Sullivan, and 
Nathaniel Greene. Horatio Gates was appointed adjutant- 
general, with the rank of brigadier. 

34. In pursuance of a plan of guarding the frontiers by 



UNITED STATES. 285 

taking Canada, an expedition was sent against that province, 
under the command of Generals Schuyler and Montgomery ; 
but the former returning, to hold a treaty with the Indians, 
was prevented by sickness from again joining the army, and 
the chief command devolved upon the latter. Having taken 
Fort Chamblee and St. John's, he advanced to Montreal, which 
surrendered without resistance ; thence he proceeded rapidly 
to Quebec. 

35. Colonel Arnold, with about 1,000 men, had been sent 
from Cambridge to penetrate to that city, by way of the Ken- 
nebec and the wilderness. After a march, in which he and 
his troops were exposed to almost incredible sufferings, he 
joined Montgomery before Quebec, in November. They made 
a desperate attempt to carry the city by assault, in which, after 
displaying the highest intrepidity, they were repulsed, with a 
loss of upwards of 400 killed and wounded ; and General Mont- 
gomery was slain. Early in the next season, the Americans 
entirely evacuated Canada. 

36. While hostilities were thus carried on in the north, the 
inhabitants of Virginia, who had, from the commencement of 
the controversy, been in the foremost rank of opposition, were 
engaged in a contest with the royal governor, Lord Dunmore, 
whose intemperate measures advanced the cause which he at- 
tempted to overthrow. In the end, he was forced to take 
refuge with his family on board a man-of-war. For some 
time, he carried on a predatory warfare against the Colonies, 
by landing detachments of troops from the ships ; and, after 
having destroyed or taken the military stores of the Colonies at 
Norfolk, he caused that town, on the 1st of January, 1776, to 
be laid in ashes ; but he was finally driven from the coast. 

37. In like manner the royal governors of North and South 
Carolina were expelled by the people ; and, before the end of 
the year 1775, all the old governments of the Colonies were 
dissolved. Many adherents to Great Britain (styled Tories), 
however, remained in the country ; and in some of the Colonies 
they were numerous and powerful : part of them, being men 
of principle, remained quiet ; others were active in their hos- 
tility, and contributed to weaken the opposition to the British 
arms. — In October, General Gage embarked for England, and 
the chief command of the British forces devolved upon General 
Sir William Howe. 

38. — (1776.) — The American army, investing Boston, 
amounted to about 15,000 men ; but it was unaccustomed to 
discipline, and, in a great measure, destitute of good arms, am- 
munition, clothing, and experienced officers ; and for want of 
gunpowder, and for other reasons, was rendered inactive during 



286 UNITED STATES. 

the summer and autumn of 1775. In the latter part of the 
winter, General Washington resolved to expel the British from 
Boston : in order to divert their attention, a severe cannonade 
was commenced upon them by the Americans, on the 2d of 
March ; and, on the night of the 4th, a battery was erected, 
with surprising despatch, on Dorchester Heights, a position 
from which the American troops might greatly annoy the ships 
in the harbor and the soldiers in the town. 

39. General Howe prepared to attack the works, but a storm 
prevented him till they were rendered so strong that it was 
deemed inexpedient. The only alternative now was to evacu- 
ate the town ; which having been done, General Washington, 
on the 17th of March, entered triumphantly into Boston, where 
he was joyfully received, as a deliverer, by the oppressed in- 
habitants. 

40. On the 28th of June, an attack was made by Sir Peter 
Parker, with a naval force, on the fort on Sullivan's Island, with 
a design to reduce Charleston, in South Carolina. The fire was 
returned with great effect from the fort, which was commanded 
by Colonel Moultrie, and the British were compelled to retreat, 
with much damage to their ships, and with a loss of upwards 
of 200 men in killed and wounded. The fort, in compliment 
to the commander, was, from that time, called Fort Moultrie. 

41. The news of the battle of Bunker Hill excited astonish- 
ment in England. The partisans of the ministry had been 
accustomed to speak of the American troops in terms of the 
utmost contempt ; but it now appeared that they were engaged 
in a sanguinary contest of doubtful issue ; and Lord Chatham, 
Burke, and Fox, endeavored, but without success, to produce 
a change in the measures of government. The ministry de- 
termined to employ a powerful force to reduce the Colonies, 
and obtained an act of parliament, authorizing them to take 
into pay 16,000 mercenaries, the troops of the Landgrave of 
Hesse and the Duke of Brunswick. All trade and intercourse 
with the Colonies were prohibited ; and their property on the 
high seas was declared to be forfeited to those who should 
capture it. The whole force, now destined against America, 
amounted to about 50,000 men. 

42. The controversy had hitherto been, not for independ- 
ence, but for constitutional liberty. But the hostile measures 
of the British government produced a strong sensation in the 
Colonies, and they soon began to think seriously of dissolving 
entirely their allegiance to the mother country. A great and 
sudden change now took place in the public mind, which was, 
in part, brought about by a series of papers written by Thomas 
Paine, and published under the signature of Common Sense, the 



UNITED STATES. 287 

design of which was to prove the expediency and necessity of 
a declaration of independence. On the 7th of June, a motion 
was made, in congress, by Richard Henry Lee, of Virginia, for 
declaring the Colonies free and independent. A committee, 
consisting of Jefferson, Adams, Franklin, Sherman, and Living- 
ston, was appointed to prepare a Declaration of Independence ; 
and, after a full discussion, the question was carried, by a vote 
nearly unanimous, on the memorable 4th of July, 1776. 

43. The Declaration thus concludes : " We, therefore, the 
representatives of the United States of America, in general 
congress assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the 
world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the name and 
by the authority of the good people of these Colonies, solemnly 
publish and declare, that these United Colonies are, and of 
right ought to be, Free and Independent States ; that they are 
absolved from all allegiance to the British crown, and that 
all political connection between them and the state of Great 
Britain is, and ought to be, totally dissolved ; and that, as free 
and independent states, they have full power to levy war, con- 
clude peace, contract alliances, establish commerce, and to do 
all other acts and things which independent states ought to do. 
And for the support of this declaration, with a firm reliance on 
the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to 
each other our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor." 



SECTION IV. 

Revolutionary War continued ; — Battles of Brooklyn, White 
Plains, Trenton, Princeton, Bennington, Brandywine, Ger- 
mantown, Stillwater ; Surrender at Saratoga ; Battles of 
Monmouth, Rhode Island, Camden, Cow-Pens, Guilford, 
Eutaio Springs ; Surrender at Yorktown ; — Independence 
acknowledged. — From A. D. 1776 to 1783. 

1. Before the evacuation of Boston by Sir William Howe, 
it had occurred to General Washington, that the occupation of 
the important and central position of the city of New York 
would be a favorite object with the British ; and he had de- 
tached General Lee, from Cambridge, to put Long Island and 
New York in a posture of defence. Soon after the evacuation, 
he followed with the most of his army. 

2. Sir William Howe, after having evacuated Boston, sailed 
with his army to Halifax, where he waited about two months, 
and then directed his course towards New York, and arrived, 



288 UNITED STATES. 

in June, off Sandy Hook. He was soon after joined by his 
brother, Admiral Lord Howe, with a reinforcement from Eng- 
land. General Clinton arrived about the same time, with troops 
brought back from the south. The British troops, which were 
soon collected, amounted to upwards of 24,000, by some stated 
as high as 30,000. To meet this formidable army, Washing- 
ton had only between 11,000 and 12,000 men, many of them 
militia, unaccustomed to military duty. 

3. Lord Howe, being commissioned by the king to offer 
terms of peace before military operations were commenced, 
sent a circular letter on shore, directed to the royal governors 
of the Colonies. This paper came to the hands of General 
Washington, who forwarded it to the president of congress. 
The terms, which amounted to nothing more than a promise of 
pardon and favor to those who should return to their allegi- 
ance, and assist in restoring public tranquillity, were not listened 
to. The Americans felt, that, having taken up arms to defend 
their indisputable rights, they were conscious of no guilt, and 
wanted no pardon. Lord Howe despatched a letter to General 
Washington, directed to George Washington, Esq. ; and another 
was sent by General Howe, directed to George Washington, 
SfC. Sfc. 8fC. ; but Washington declined to receive them, or any 
writing, unless directed to him in his proper character. 

4. Both sides prepared seriously for action. On the 27th 
of August, an engagement took place between Brooklyn and 
Flatbush. The Americans, under the command of Generals 
Putnam and Sullivan, being surrounded, and exposed to the 
fire of the Hessians in front, and of the British troops in the 
rear, were totally defeated, with a loss, according to their own 
statement, of upwards of 1,000, and according to that of the 
British, of 3,000. Three American generals, Sullivan, Lord 
Stirling, and Woodhull, fell into the hands of the enemy, 
whose loss was only about 300 or 400. During the heat of 
the engagement, General Washington crossed over from New 
York to Brooklyn, and made an admirable retreat, on the night 
of the 29th. It was effected under the cover of a thick fog, 
with such silence, order, and secrecy, that the British army, 
which was encamped only a quarter of a mile distant, did not 
discover it till it was too late to annoy the Americans. 

5. Washington, with a part of his army, retired to Wliite 
Plains, where, on the 28th of October, an engagement took 
place, in which several hundred fell. General Howe soon 
after reduced Fort Washington, on the Hudson, containing a 
garrison of upwards of 2,800 men, under Colonel Magaw. 
This was the severest blow that the American arms had yet 
sustained. The British were now in possession of the city of 
New York, Long Island, and Staten Island. 

I 



UNITED STATES. 289 

6. Washington, having crossed the Hudson, retreated through 
New Jersey, by Newark, New Brunswick, Princeton, and Tren- 
ton ; thence he crossed over to the Pennsylvania side of the 
Delaware, being closely pursued by the British army, under 
Lord Cornwallis, who arrived at the river just after the Amer- 
ican army had effected the passage. The British troops, in the 
full career of success, were ordered into winter cantonments. 

7. The aspect of American affairs was now exceedingly 
gloomy. The army was greatly reduced by the loss of men 
in killed, wounded, and taken ; and by the departure of those 
whose enlistments had expired. To add to the disasters, Gen- 
eral Charles Lee had been surprised and taken prisoner at 
Baskenridge ; and the British had seized upon Rhode Island. 
The whole number of troops under Washington, on the west 
side of the Delaware, amounted to only about 3,000, many of 
whom were without shoes or comfortable clothing. In this 
darkest hour during the war, General Howe issued a procla- 
mation, offering pardon to all who would submit to royal au- 
thority ; and many persons abandoned the American cause and 
joined the British. 

8. Washington, aware of the importance of striking some 
successful blow, in order to animate the expiring hopes of the 
country, on the night of the 25th of December, crossed the 
Delaware, fell on the enemy, at Trenton, by surprise, and took 
the whole body, consisting of about 1,000 Hessians, whose 
commander, Colonel Raid, was slain. He then proceeded to 
Princeton, and on the 3d of January, 1777, defeated a party 
of British troops, who lost about 100 men ; and forced about 
300 to surrender, who had taken refuge in the College. In 
this action, General Mercer, of Virginia, was killed. These 
bold and decisive measures of Washington revived the droop- 
ing spirits of the Americans, and surprised and confounded 
the enemy. 

9. During the gloomy period of the latter part of the year 
1776, congress manifested the greatest firmness ; they increas- 
ed the power of Washington, investing him with supreme and 
unlimited command ; took measures for raising an army for 
three years, or during the war ; sent agents to Europe to 
solicit the friendship and aid of foreign powers ; endeavoured 
to rouse the people by an impressive address ; and, in 1777, 
formed Articles of Confederation between the Thirteen States. 

10. — (1777.) — In March, General Howe sent up the Hud- 
son a detachment to destroy some stores at Peekskill ; and in 
April, another detachment of 2,000 men, under General Try on, 
proceeded to Danbury, in Connecticut, destroyed valuable 
stores collected there, and burnt the most of the town. During 

25 



290 UNITED STATES. 

their return, there took place, between the British and the Con- 
necticut militia, some skirmishes, in one of which the American 
commander, General Wooster, was killed. 

11. On the opening of the campaign in the spring, the prin- 
cipal American army was increased to but little more than 
7,000 men. General Howe, after having attempted in vain to 
provoke Washington to an engagement, retired from New Jer- 
sey to Staten Island ; afterwards embarked with 16,000 men 
on board his ships ; entered the Chesapeake, and landed at the 
head of navigation on Elk river. It being obviously his object 
to occupy Philadelphia, Washington put his army in motion, 
in order, if possible, to prevent it. On the 11th of September, 
a battle was fought on the Brandywine, in which the American 
forces, after a brave resistance, were obliged to yield to supe- 
rior numbers and discipline, with the loss of about 1,000 men 
in killed, wounded, and taken. Among the wounded was the 
young Marquis de Lafayette, who had recently entered as a 
volunteer in the American service, and had been appointed a 
major-general. The loss of the British was about 500 men. 

12. Immediately after this battle, General Howe took pos- 
session of Philadelphia; and the principal part of his army 
was stationed at Germantown, seven miles from the city. It 
now became necessary for him to take the forts on the Dela- 
ware, in order to open a communication with the Atlantic. 
This was effected after having cost the British a loss of three 
or four hundred men. While a detachment was absent to ac- 
complish this purpose, Washington attacked the army at Ger- 
mantown, on the 4th of October, but was repulsed, with a loss 
of about 1,200 men in killed, wounded, and prisoners ; while 
the loss of the enemy was only about half as great. After 
these transactions, the British army went into winter-quarters 
in Philadelphia. 

13. During these inauspicious operations in the Middle States, 
important events were taking place in the north. Early in the 
spring, it was determined in England to invade the States 
through Canada ; and, in June, a British army, amounting to 
7,000 men, besides Canadians and Indians, commanded by 
General Burgoyne, passed up Lake Champlain, and laid siege 
to Ticonderoga, which was abandoned by the Americans under 
General St. Clair. General Burgoyne proceeded to Skeens- 
borough [now Whitehall], and destroyed the American flotilla 
and stores ; and from thence he led his army to Fort Edward, 
on the Hudson. 

14. While remaining here, he sent a detachment of 500 
English troops and 100 Indians, under Colonel Baum, to de- 
stroy a collection of stores at Bennington, in Vermont. On 



UNITED STATES. 291 

the 16th of August, General Stark, with about 800 Vermont 
and New Hampshire militia, killed and took prisoners the most 
of this detachment. The next day, a reinforcement of 500 
Germans, under Colonel Breyman, arrived, and was also de- 
feated by General Stark. The loss of the British in these two 
engagements was about 600. A few days before this battle, 
General Herkimer was defeated, on the Mohawk, by the Brit- 
ish, under Colonel St. Leger, with considerable loss. 

15. General Burgoyne, having collected his forces and 
stores, crossed the Hudson, and encamped at Saratoga. Gen- 
eral Gates, who had recently taken the chief command of the 
American army in the northern department, having concen- 
trated his troops, advanced towards the enemy, and on the 
19th of September, an obstinate but indecisive engagement 
took place at Stillwater, in which the Americans lost between 
300 and 400, and the British about 600. The British army 
was soon after confined in a narrow pass, having the Hudson 
on one side, and impassable woods on the other ; a body of 
Americans in the rear, and an enemy of 13,000 men in front. 

16. In this exigency, Burgoyne resolved to ascertain whether 
it were possible to dislodge the Americans, and sent a body of 
1,500 men to reconnoitre the left wing, when a second severe 
engagement took place, in which the British were worsted, and 
General Fraser was killed ; and the American generals, Lin- 
coln and Arnold, were wounded. Burgoyne, after having 
made ineffectual attempts to retreat, finding his provisions 
nearly exhausted, his troops worn down with incessant toil, 
and his situation becoming every hour more critical, called a 
council of war, in which it was unanimously resolved to capit- 
ulate ; and, on the 17th of October, the whole army, consisting 
of 5,752 men, exclusive of sick and wounded, surrendered at 
Saratoga, as prisoners of war, to General Gates. 

17. The surrender of Burgoyne excited the liveliest joy 
among the Americans, and inspired them with confidence with 
regard to their ultimate success in establishing their independ- 
ence. In 1776, congress had sent Dr. Franklin, Silas Deane, 
and Arthur Lee, commissioners to France, to solicit assistance ; 
but though it was evident that the French court secretly wished 
success to the Americans, yet they would give no open coun- 
tenance to their agents, till the news of the surrender of Bur- 
goyne. That event decided the negotiation ; and in February, 
1778, treaties of alliance, and of amity and commerce, were 
signed at Paris. The news of this alliance was received with 
great joy in America. 

18. — (1778.) —The British ministry, after hearing of the 
fate of their northern army, began to speak of American 



292 UNITED STATES. 

affairs with more moderation ; and, on receiving intelligence 
of the alliance between France and the United States, their 
fears were increased. In February, Lord North laid before 
parliament bills for conciliating America ; and commissioners 
were appointed, who arrived in June, bringing terms of accom- 
modation, which, a few years before, might have effected the 
object. But the day of reconciliation was past ; congress had 
now proceeded too far, and were too sanguine with regard to 
ultimate success, to listen to any terms short of an acknowledg- 
ment of independence. 

19. At the opening of the campaign of 1778, General Howe 
went to England, and General Sir Henry Clinton succeeded 
him as commander-in-chief. It was now determined by the 
British to concentrate their forces in the city of New York ; 
and with this view the royal army left Philadelphia in June, 
and crossed the Delaware. General Washington, penetrating 
their design, attempted to interrupt their progress. The two 
armies met on the 28th of June, near Monmouth court-house, 
in New Jersey, where a smart action took place, in which the 
Americans lost about 230, in killed and wounded, and the Brit- 
ish about 400. This day was remarkable for excessive heat, 
which occasioned great suffering and many deaths in both ar- 
mies. The British troops retreated, after the battle, to New 
York, and remained inactive during the summer. 

20. A French fleet of 12 ships'of the line and 4 frigates, 
under the command of Count oVEstaing, arrived at the en- 
trance of the Delaware in July ; and a plan was concerted to 
attack the British troops at Newport, but it proved unsuccess- 
ful. A short but obstinate engagement took place on Rhode- 
Island, on the 29th of August, between the British under 
General Pigot, and the Americans under General Sullivan, in 
which each lost upwards of 200 men. The next day, the 
Americans retreated from the island. At the close of the 
season, the French fleet, without having accomplished anything 
of importance, sailed to the West Indies. — In the autumn, 
General Clinton sent an expedition to Georgia; and on the 
last of December, the British, after defeating the American 
force, took possession of Savannah. 

21. — (1779.) — Near the close of the year 1778, General 
Lincoln was appointed by congress to take the command in the 
southern department ; and, during the year 1779, the principal 
theatre of the war was changed from the north to the south. 
The operations, however, were not of any decisive conse- 
quence, though they gave rise to various expeditions, in which 
much valor and skill were displayed. The exertions of the 
Americans were enfeebled from the depreciation of their bills 



UNITED STATES. 293 

of credit, and from their not deriving the benefit which they 
had expected from the French fleet, which was unsuccessful 
in all its enterprises. 

22. Early in the season, Sir George Collier and General 
Matthews were sent from New York to Virginia, on a predatory 
expedition. They landed at Portsmouth, and destroyed the 
shipping and valuable stores in that vicinity, together with 
many houses. A similar expedition was afterwards sent 
against the maritime parts of Connecticut, under the com- 
mand of General Try on, who plundered New Haven, and burnt 
Fairfield and Norwalk. 

23. The British troops having taken and fortified Stony 
Point, an eminence on the Hudson, an expedition, under the 
command of General Wayne, was sent, in July, to reduce it, 
which was conducted with great heroism, and the whole gar- 
rison surrendered. A similar expedition, under the command 
of General Lovell, was sent against a British post at Penobscot, 
but it was unsuccessful. General Sullivan, with a strong force, 
invaded the country of the Six Nations of Indians, who had 
been induced to take part with the British against the Ameri- 
cans, destroyed 40 of their villages, with all their corn and 
fruit-trees, and returned with little loss. 

24. General Lincoln sent a detachment of 1,500 men to 
cross the* Savannah, under the command of General Ash, who 
was surprised and defeated at Briar Creek, by General Pre- 
vost, with a loss of about 300 men, in killed and taken. This 
success emboldened General Prevost to make an attempt on 
Charleston, but it was unsuccessful. Count d'Estaing having 
arrived with his fleet from the West Indies, an attack was made 
on the British under the command of General Prevost, in Sa- 
vannah, by a united force of French and Americans ; but they 
were repulsed, with the loss of about 1,000 men, among whom 
was Count Pulaski, a Polish officer jn the American service. 
The French fleet soon after departed from the American coast. 

25. — (1780.) — In 1780, South Carolina was the principal 
theatre of the war. Sir Henry Clinton sailed from New York 
with a large force, and arrived at Savannah in January. Pro- 
ceeding thence to Charleston, he laid siege to the city in April, 
and, having prepared to storm it, General Lincoln was, on the 
17th of May, compelled to capitulate. The garrison, consist- 
ing of about 2,500 men, together with all the adult male in- 
habitants, were surrendered as prisoners of war. General 
Clinton leaving about 4,000 troops for the southern service, 
under the command of Lord Cornwall-is, returned to New 
York. A proclamation was issued, inviting the Carolinians to 
the royal standard ; several recruits were, in consequence, 
25* 



294 UNITED STATES. 

procured ; but the great body of the people remained true to 
the cause of liberty and independence. 

26. Charleston being now in the possession of the British, 
measures were taken to secure the obedience of the interior 
country. For this purpose, a considerable force was sent to 
Camden, under the command of Lord Raivdon. Several se- 
vere skirmishes took place between small parties, in one of 
which Colonel Buford was defeated by a body of British 
cavalry, under Colonel Tarleton ; in others, the American 
General Sumter distinguished himself. 

27. General Gates, who had been appointed to the chief 
command of the southern army, in place of General Lincoln, 
arrived at the American camp, in South Carolina, in the latter 
part of July, and troops were collected in order to oppose the 
progress of the British. Lord Cornwallis, hearing of these 
movements, repaired to Camden, to reinforce Lord Rawdon. 
On the 16th of August, a severe engagement took place be- 
tween the two armies, in which the Americans were defeated, 
with the loss of 700 or 800 men, among whom was the Baron 
de Kalb, a Prussian in the American service, and the second 
officer in command. The British lost about half as many. 
The greater part of the American force consisted of militia, 
who fled at the first fire, and could not be rallied. General 
Gates, with the feeble remains of his army, retreated' to Hills- 
borough, in North Carolina ; and Lord Cornwallis, for some 
time after the battle of Camden, remained inactive. 

28. In July, M. de Ternay, with a French fleet, consisting 
of seven ships of the line, besides frigates, and 6,000 land 
troops, commanded by Count de Rochambeau, arrived at Rhode 
Island. This gave new life to the American counsels and 
arms ; but the fleet suddenly returned to France, and all hope 
of naval assistance vanished. The land forces, however, re- 
mained, and cooperated- in the final reduction of the British 
army. 

29. The most flagrant instance of treachery during the war 
occurred this year. This was the plot of General Benedict 
Arnold for delivering into the hands of the enemy the impor- 
tant fortress of West Point, on the Hudson. Arnold had dis- 
tinguished himself at the siege of Quebec, and also at Sar- 
atoga, where he was severely wounded. He was afterwards 
appointed to a command in Philadelphia, where his oppressive 
conduct had subjected him to a trial by a court martial, by 
which he was sentenced to be reprimanded. By these pro- 
ceedings he was highly exasperated, and determined on re- 
venge. General Washington still valued him for his bravery 
and former services, and, at his request, not suspecting his in- 



UNITED STATES. 295 

tentions, intrusted him with the command of West Point. He 
soon entered into a negotiation with General Clinton for the 
surrender of that post ; but happily the plot was discovered in 
season to prevent the disastrous consequences which must have 
followed from its execution. 

30. The unfortunate Major Andre, the British agent in this 
negotiation, being apprehended and convicted as a spy, his life 
was forfeited by the laws of war, and he was condemned and 
executed. The fate of this heroic and amiable young officer 
was deeply regretted by the Americans, as well as by the 
English. Arnold escaped to the enemy, and received, as a 
reward of his treason, an appointment to the office of brigadier- 
general in the British army. 

31. — ( 1781.) — The operations of the war, during the cam- 
paign of 1781, were chiefly in the south, and were of great 
importance. In January, the traitor Arnold, with about 1,500 
men, made a descent upon Virginia, and conlmitted extensive 
depredations on the unprotected coast of that State. 

32. In the autumn of 1780, General Greene was appointed 
to the chief command of the American southern army. The 
first action, after he assumed the command, was fought at the 
Cow-Pens, by the Americans under Colonel Morgan, against 
the English under Colonel Tarleton, who was defeated, with 
the loss of 300 killed, and 500 taken prisoners. The loss of 
the Americans, in killed and wounded, was only 72. 

33. The two armies, under Greene and Cornwall-is, met near 
Guilford court-house, in North Carolina, and, on the 15th of 
March, a battle was fought, in which the British -lost upwards 
of 400 men ; yet they remained masters of the field. The 
loss of the Americans, who were mostly militia, was about 
equal. After this battle, General Greene marched to Camden, 
where Lord Rawdon was fortified with 900 men. The British 
commander sallied out and attacked him. The loss on each 
side was between 200 and 300 men ; but the British had the 
advantage. — In September, General Greene obtained an im- 
portant victory over the British, under Colonel Stuart, at the 
Eutaw Springs. The loss of the enemy in killed, wounded, 
and captured, amounted to about 1,000; that of the Ameri- 
cans to 550. This action nearly finished the war in South 
Carolina. 

34. After the battle of Guilford, Lord Cornwallis pro- 
ceeded towards Virginia, to join the British army under Gen- 
eral Phillips ; and, arriving at Petersburg in May, he took the 
command of the united forces. After some predatory war- 
fare, he encamped with his army on York River, at Yorktown 
and Gloucester Point, where he fortified himself in the best 
manner he was able. 



296 UNITED STATES. 

35. A plan of combined operations against the British had 
been previously concerted by Generals Washington, Knox, 
Rochambeau, and other officers. The point of attack was not 
absolutely determined on ; but, after Lord Cornwallis had col- 
lected a large army in Virginia, Washington resolved to con- 
centrate his forces against him. At the same time, it was 
given out that New York was to be the point of attack, in order 
to induce the Eastern and Middle States to exert themselves 
in furnishing supplies, as well as to deceive Sir Henry Clinton, 
and prevent him from sending reinforcements to Cornwallis. 
Washington wrote letters to General Greene and others, stating 
his intention to attack New York, and contrived that these let- 
ters should be intercepted by the British commander. The 
project was successful, and by a variety of military manoeuvres, 
in which he completely out-generalled Clinton, he increased 
his apprehensions about New York, and prevented his sending 
assistance to Cornwallis. 

36. Having, for a considerable time, kept Clinton in per- 
petual alarm in New York, Washington suddenly quitted his 
camp at White Plains, crossed the Hudson with his army, and, 
passing rapidly through New Jersey and Pennsylvania, arrived 
at Elk river, the head -quarters of a considerable army under 
the Marquis de Lafayette. A part of the forces embarked and 
sailed for Virginia ; the rest marched by land. 

37. Clinton was not informed of the movements of Wash- 
ington till it was too late to pursue him. He then sent a strong 
detachment under the traitor Arnold, who had recently return- 
ed from Virginia, against New London in Connecticut. Fort 
Grisioold, which stood on a hill in Groton, nearly opposite, 
was taken by? a party of the British, and the most of its garri- 
son, together with Colonel Ledyard, the commander, were 
killed or wounded ; and New London was afterwards set on 
fire and consumed. 

38. At Chester, Washington heard the cheering news of the 
arrival of 24 French ships of the line, under Count de Grasse, 
in the Chesapeake. Admiral Graves, with 19 British ships of 
the line, arrived soon after. The two fleets had a slight en- 
gagement, in which the French had the advantage, and were 
left masters of the navigation of the bay. A body of French 
troops was landed to cooperate with the Americans. The 
whole combined force, under Washington, closely investing 
the British army at Yorktoion, including continentals, French, 
and militia, amounted to about 16,000. 

39. The British army being blockaded by land and sea, the 
American forces opened the first batteries upon them early in 
October, with such effect as to silence a part of their artillery. 



UNITED STATES. 297 

Two British redoubts were taken. The second parallel was 
begun on the night of the 1 1th ; and such was the tremendous 
effect of the American artillery, that the British works were 
demolished, their guns silenced, and no hope of relief or es- 
cape remained. On the 17th of October, Lord Cornwallis 
proposed a cessation of hostilities; and, on the 19th, articles 
of capitulation were signed, by which the British army, mili- 
tary stores, and shipping, fell into the hands of General Wash- 
ington. The whole number of prisoners, exclusive of seamen, 
amounted to 7,073 ; but many of them, at the time of the sur- 
render, were incapable of duty. 

40. As the reduction of this division of the British forces 
was considered as deciding the war, and establishing the inde- 
pendence of the United States, the news was everywhere re- 
ceived with emotions of inexpressible joy. Divine service was 
performed in all the American brigades ; and the commander- 
in-chief recommended that all who were not on duty should 
join in the worship, " with a serious deportment and that sensi- 
bility of heart which the recollection of the surprising and par- 
ticular interposition of Divine Providence in our favor claims." 
A day of public thanksgiving was recommended by congress, 
and observed throughout the United States ; and General Wash- 
ington liberated all persons under arrest, that all might partake 
in the general joy. 

41. As no rational expectation, on the part of the British, of 
conquering the United States, now remained, the military oper- 
ations which succeeded were of little consequence. In March, 
1782, Lord North resigned his office as prime minister, and a 
new cabinet was formed, that advised the king to discontinue 
the further prosecution of the war. General Carleton was 
appointed to the command of the British forces in America; 
and, on the 30th of November, provisional articles of peace 
were signed, by which the independence and sovereignty of 
the United States were acknowledged. On the 3d of Septem- 
ber, 1783, there was concluded, at Versailles, by Adams, 
Franklin, Jay, and Laurens, on the part of the Americans, 
and Oswald, on the part of the British, a definitive treaty of 
peace, by which the thirteen United Colonies were admitted to 
be " Free, Sovereign, and Independent States." 

42. Thus ended the revolutionary war ; a war which began 
in the injudicious and tyrannical endeavor to procure a revenue 
from the Colonies, and which terminated in their freedom and 
sovereignty ; a war which cost Great Britain, in addition to the 
loss of her Colonies, the sum of about <£100,000,000 sterling, 
and about 50,000 subjects ; a war in which America lost many 
lives and much treasure, and endured every hardship and suf- 



298 UNITED STATES. 

fering incident to so arduous a struggle, for which she was so 
ill prepared ; a war, the issue of which will remain an encour- 
agement to the oppressed to endeavor to rid themselves of op- 
pression, and a lesson to those who, unmindful of the rights of 
the people, would lift against them the arm of power, and 
force them to a compliance with their unjust demands ; a war, 
to use the language of Mr. Pitt (the younger), " which was 
conceived in injustice, nurtured in folly, and whose footsteps 
were marked with slaughter and devastation. The nation was 
drained of its best blood and its vital resources, for which 
nothing was received in return but a series of inefficient vic- 
tories and of disgraceful defeats ; victories obtained over men 
fighting in the holy cause of liberty, or defeats which filled 
the land with mourning for the loss of dear and valuable 
relations, slain in a detested and impious quarrel." 



SECTION V. 

The Army disbanded : The Constitution formed : Washing- 
ton's Administration : Adams's Administration. — From 
A. D. 1783 to 1801. 

1. When the American army was to be disbanded, new and 
serious difficulties arose concerning the payment of the arrears 
of their wages and rations. The want of resources to carry 
on the war, and of supreme power to lay and collect taxes, 
had driven congress to the expedient of emitting vast sums in 
bills of credit, which depreciated so much as to be of scarcely 
any value ; and, on account of the interruption of commerce, 
and the vast quantities of paper money which had been issued, 
gold and silver were, for a time, almost wholly banished from 
circulation. The depreciated currency, in which the troops 
were paid, deprived them of a great part of what was really 
their due ; and neither officers nor soldiers could make a de- 
cent appearance in point of dress, while the families of many 
were suffering at home. • 

2. The officers of the army, reposing confidence in the 
faith of their country, remained quiet till the close of the war ; 
but much agitation and alarm were, at length, excited among 
them, by the apprehension that they were to be disbanded 
without having a settlement of their accounts, or any provision 
for the payment of what was due to them. In this state of 
feeling, that portion of the army, that was stationed at Newburg, 
was thrown into alarming agitation by an address to the officers, 



UNITED STATES. 299 

privately circulated among them, appealing to their passions, 
and designed to stir them up to violent measures. 

3. At this crisis, the virtues of Washington shone forth with 
peculiar and unrivalled lustre. He assembled the officers ; 
exhorted them to moderation in demanding their arrears ; 
promised to exert all his influence in their favor ; and con- 
jured them, " as they valued their honor, as they respected the 
rights of humanity, and as they regarded the military and 
national character of the American States, to express their ut- 
most detestation of the men who were attempting to open the 
flood-gates of civil discord, and deluge their rising empire with 
blood." 

4. These words, coming from one whom they had been ac- 
customed to reverence, were weighty and decisive. After his 
speech, the officers voted him an address of thanks, and re- 
solved that they continued to have an unshaken confidence in 
the justice of congress and their country. Congress had but 
little money, and no effectual means of raising it ; but they 
put the accounts of the army in a train for settlement ; and 
decreed, that the officers should receive, after the end of the 
war, five years' additional pay, and each soldier eighty dollars 
besides his wages. 

5. The 3d of November was fixed upon for disbanding the 
army : the day preceding, Washington issued his farewell or- 
ders to his troops, replete with friendly advice and affectionate 
wishes for their present and future welfare. Having after- 
wards taken an affecting leave of his officers, he repaired to 
Annapolis, where congress was then sitting, delivered to the 
president his military commission, and declared that he was 
no longer invested with any public character. After this dec- 
laration, he retired, followed by the gratitude of his country 
and the applause and admiration of the world, to his estate at 
Mount Vernon, and addicted himself to his favorite pursuit of 
agriculture. 

6. At the close of the war, when the States were released 
from the presence of danger, the government, under the Arti- 
cles of Confederation, was found to be weak, and wholly in- 
sufficient for the public exigencies. The authority of congress 
was reduced to a mere name ; a large public debt had been 
contracted, but no provision had been made for paying either 
the principal or the interest. As congress had no revenue, 
they could give no effectual value to their paper currency ; 
and the public securities fell to a very small proportion of 
their nominal value, as it was regarded as extremely doubtful 
whether the government would ever be able to redeem them. 

7. In this state of affairs, most of the army notes were sold 



300 UNITED STATES. 

for about a sixth or an eighth of their nominal value ; so that the 
brave men who had fought the battles of their country, and 
endured hardships, cold, and hunger, and who had repeatedly- 
received of congress solemn assurances of recompense for 
their toils and dangers, were at last forced to sell their securi- 
ties for a mere trifle, in order to keep their families from dis- 
tressing want. 

8. The necessity of a more efficient general government 
was, at length, extensively felt; and, in accordance with a 
proposition of the legislature of Virginia, commissioners from 
several of the States met, in 1786, at Annapolis, to form a 
general system of commercial regulations. But, judging that 
their authority was too limited to accomplish any desirable pur- 
pose, they adjourned, with instructions to advise the States to 
appoint delegates with more ample powers to meet the next 
year at Philadelphia. 

9. Accordingly, delegates from the different States assem- 
bled in that city, in May, 1787, and elected General Washing- 
ton, who was a member of their body from Virginia, for their 
president. After four months' deliberation, the Federal Con- 
stitution was, on the 17th of September, unanimously agreed 
to by the members of the convention ; and, being presented to 
congress, it was, by that body, transmitted to the several States 
for their consideration. Being accepted and ratified, in 1788, 
by eleven members of the confederacy, it became the consti- 
tution of the United States. The two dissenting States were 
North Carolina and Rhode Island ; the former adopted it in 
1789, the latter in 1790. 

10. According to the constitution, the several States elected 
their delegates to congress ; and, by a unanimous vote, Wash- 
ington was chosen the first president. When the appointment 
was officially announced to him, although unwilling to leave 
his retirement, he yielded to the unanimous voice of his coun- 
try ; and bidding adieu to Mount Vernon, to private life, and to 
domestic felicity, he proceeded, without delay, to New York, 
where congress was assembled. In his progress to that city, 
he was met by numerous bodies of people, who hailed him as 
the father of his country ; triumphal arches were erected to 
commemorate his achievements ; aged women blessed him as 
he passed ; and virgins, strewing flowers in his way, expressed 
their hope that he, who had defended the injured rights of their 
parents, would not refuse his protection to their children. 

11. On the 30th of April, he was inaugurated President of 
the United States. The ceremony was performed in the open 
gallery of the City Hall, in New York, where the oath was 
administered to him, in the presence of a countless multitude 



UNITED STATES. 301 

of spectators. The importance of the act, the novelty of the 
scene, the dignity of the general's character, the gravity of his 
manner, and the reverence with which he bowed to kiss the 
sacred volume, impressed upon the transaction a solemnity 
never before witnessed in America. . 

12. The joy of the nation at the establishment of the new 
government, with Washington at its head, was scarcely ex- 
ceeded by that of any preceding event. His personal influ- 
ence was such as to give the government a character both at 
home and abroad ; and he possessed the inestimable talent of 
collecting the wisest counsellors, and of selecting the best opin- 
ions for the direction of his own conduct. At the same time 
that he was elected president, John Adams, who had borne a 
distinguished part in the revolution, was chosen vice-president. 
The other principal officers, at the first organization of the 
government, were Thomas Jefferson, Secretary of State ; Alex- 
ander Hamilton, Secretary of the Treasury ; Henry Knox, 
Secretary of War ; Edmund Randolph, Attorney-General ; 
Samuel Osgood, Postmaster-General ; and John Jay, Chief 
Justice of the United States. 

13. The beneficial effects of the new government, as admin- 
istered by Washington and his assistants, were soon felt. Pub- 
lic confidence was restored ; commerce revived ; the national 
debt, incurred during the revolutionary war, was funded, and 
brought, at once, to its par value ; and the United States sud- 
denly rose from a state of embarrassment and depression to a 
high degree of national prosperity. 

14. In 1790, the country was involved in a sanguinary war 
with the Indians to the north of the Ohio, who obtained a vic- 
tory over General Harmer, and another in the following year 
(1791) over General St. Clair; but General Wayne, who suc- 
ceeded to the command of the army, completely routed the 
savages, and negotiated a treaty of peace, in 1795, at Greenville. 

15. While the United States were engaged in war with the 
Indians, they were also involved in new difficulties by the con- 
vulsions of Europe. The French revolution had commenced, 
and that nation was under the wild misrule of the Directory. 
Claims were made on this country for assistance ; the feelings 
of a large portion of the community were warmly enlisted on 
the side of France, and would have urged the nation into hos- 
tilities with England. But it was the policy of Washington's 
administration to remain neutral ; yet this course of the gov- 
ernment met with opposition, and increased the hostility of the 
two parties into which the country had begun to be divided. 

16. Washington, having been twice unanimously elected 
president, and having administered the government with great 

26 



302 UNITED STATES. 

advantage to the country, near the close of his second term of 
four years, declined a reelection, in a valedictory address to the 
people, replete with maxims of political wisdom, and breathing 
sentiments of the warmest affection for his country. At the ex- 
piration of his term, he again withdrew to his residence at Mount 
Vernon, and was succeeded in office, in 1797, by John Adams. 

17. During Mr. Adams's administration, the French revolu- 
tionary government, disappointed in its object of engaging the 
United States in the war with England, pursued a course of 
insult and aggression towards them, which ended in open 
hostilities. The American government, at length, adopted 
measures of defence and retaliation ; the navy was increased, 
and a provisional army was raised, of which General Wash- 
ington was appointed commander-in-chief. A few months 
afterwards, the directory government of France was over- 
thrown, and the disputes between that country and this were 
amicably adjusted. 

18. Not long after, having accepted the command of the 
army, Washington died suddenly, at Mount Vernon, on the 
14th of December, 1799, in the 68th year of his age. The 
news of the death of the great American general, statesman, 
and patriot, produced an impression that is without a parallel 
in America. The people of the United States, in accordance 
with the recommendation of congress, wore crape on the left 
arm thirty days, as a token of spontaneous and unaffected grief; 
eulogies were delivered, and funeral processions celebrated, 
throughout the country, — thus exhibiting the affecting and sub- 
lime spectacle of a nation in mourning for the loss of one 
whom they had been accustomed to regard as the father of his 
country. 

19. For several years, the nation had been much agitated 
by the conflicts of parties. At the time of the adoption of the 
federal constitution, those in favor of it were styled Federal- 
ists, and those against it, Anti-federalists ; but the two parties 
were afterwards generally designated by the names of Feder- 
alists and Democrats or Republicans. These parties differed 
from each other, both with regard to the foreign relations of 
the country, and on various subjects of domestic policy. The 
federalists accused the republicans of an undue partiality for 
France ; and the latter charged the former with a similar par- 
tiality for Great Britain. A commercial treaty with Great 
Britain, negotiated by Mr. Jay, in 1794, was severely cen- 
sured by the republicans, and increased the animosities of the 
parties. 

20. Many of the measures of Mr. Adams's administration, 
relating both to foreign and domestic policy, met with much 



UNITED STATES. 303 

opposition. Some of the acts which excited the most dissat- 
isfaction, were those of raising a standing army, imposing a 
direct tax, and enacting the " alien and sedition laws." In 
1801, a revolution took place in the administration of public 
affairs ; and the republican party, having become the majority, 
succeeded in elevating their candidate, Thomas Jefferson, to 
the presidency, in opposition to Mr. Adams. 



SECTION VI. 

Jefferson's Administration : Madison's Administration ; War 
with Great Britain : — Monroe' 's Administration : Adams's 
Administration. — From A. D. 1801 to 1829. 

1. The great measure of the first term of Mr. Jefferson's 
administration was the acquisition and annexation to the United 
States of the great country of Louisiana, which was purchased 
of France for the sum of $ 15,000,000. This country was 
first colonized by the French in 1699. In 1762, it was ceded 
by France to Spain ; and, in 1800, it was ceded back by Spain 
to France. 

2. At the time when Mr. Jefferson was raised to the presi- 
dency, the state of the country was highly prosperous, and it 
so continued during his first presidential term. The conflicts 
between the two great political parties, which had greatly agi- 
tated the country during the preceding administration, still con- 
tinued ; but the party which sustained Mr. Jefferson increased 
in strength to such a degree, that he was reelected by an al- 
most unanimous vote. 

3. The war which had, for a number of years, been raging 
between Great Britain and France, had involved nearly all the 
nations of Europe. America endeavored to maintain a neu- 
trality towards the belligerents, and peaceably to carry on a 
commerce with them. Being the great neutral trader, she had 
an interest in extending the privileges of neutrality, which the 
belligerents, on the contrary, were inclined to contract within 
the narrowest limits. 

4. In May, 1806, the British government declared all the 
ports and rivers, from the Elbe in Germany to Brest in France, 
to be blockaded, and all American vessels, trading with these 
interdicted ports, were liable to seizure and condemnation. In 
the ensuing November, 1806, the Emperor of France issued 
his Berlin Decree, declaring the British islands in a state of 
blockade, and prohibiting all intercourse with them. Next 



304 UNITED STATES. 

followed, in November, 1807, the British Orders in Council, 
by which all neutral vessels, trading with France, were com- 
pelled to stop at a British port and pay a duty. In consequence 
of this measure, Bonaparte issued, in December, 1807, the 
Milan Decree, by which every vessel, which should submit to 
British search, or consent to any pecuniary exactions whatever, 
was confiscated. 

5. In the same month (December, 1807), on the recom- 
mendation of Mr. Jefferson, congress laid an embargo on all 
the shipping of the United States. This measure was designed 
to retaliate on both England and France, and also to put the 
United States in a better state of defence, by retaining their 
vessels and seamen at home ; but, inasmuch as it annihilated 
all foreign commerce, it operated with great severity on the 
interests of the people, and became unpopular ; and in March, 
1809, the embargo was removed, and non-intercourse with 
France and Great Britain was substituted. 

6. While matters continued in this state, new causes of prov- 
ocation continually occurred. The trade of the United States 
was harassed by both of the belligerents ; and the government 
was accused in Britain of partiality to France, and in France 
of pusillanimously submitting to the insults of Britain. 

7. But one species of injury, which was keenly felt and 
loudly complained of in this country, the United States suffered 
exclusively from Britain. This was the impressment of her 
seamen, on board the American vessels, by British men-of- 
war. The similarity of language renders it difficult to distin- 
guish American from British seamen ; but there is reason to 
believe, that, on some occasions, the British officers were not 
anxious to make the distinction, being determined, at all haz- 
ards, to procure men ; and American seamen were compelled 
to serve in the British navy, and fight the battles of Britain. 

8. The British, on the other hand, complained that their 
seamen escaped on board American vessels, to which they 
were encouraged, and where they were carefully concealed ; 
and they contended for the right of searching American mer- 
chant vessels for their own runaway seamen. This custom 
had been long practised ; was a fruitful source of irritation ; 
and was submitted to, with extreme reluctance, on the part of 
the Americans, who maintained that, under British naval offi- 
cers, it was often conducted in the most arbitrary manner, 
with little regard to the feelings of those against whom it was 
enforced ; and that, under the color of this search, native sea- 
men were frequently dragged on board British vessels. 

9. The custom of searching for British seamen had hitherto 
been confined to private vessels ; but, in 1807, it was ascer- 



UNITED STATES. 305 

tained that four seamen had deserted from the British service, 
and entered on board the Chesapeake, an American frigate, 
commanded by Commodore Barron, and carrying 36 guns. 
Captain Humphreys of the Leopard, an English frigate of 50 
guns, in compliance with the orders of Admiral Berkeley, fol- 
lowed the Chesapeake beyond the Capes of Virginia, and, 
after demanding the deserters, fired a broadside upon the 
American frigate, and killed and wounded about 20 men. The 
Chesapeake struck her colors, and the four seamen were 
given up. 

10. This outrage occasioned a general indignation through- 
out the country, and was deemed, by many, in conjunction 
with other causes, a sufficient ground for declaring war. The 
president issued a proclamation, ordering all British vessels of 
war to quit the waters of the United States, and forbidding all 
intercourse between them and the inhabitants. The British 
government disavowed the attack on the Chesapeake ; yet the 
measures taken with regard to the affair were far from being 
satisfactory to the government of this conntry. 

11. In 1809, Mr. Jefferson, having declined *a reelection, 
was succeeded by James Madison, who had held the office of 
secretary of state in the late administration, and who pursued 
the same general policy. At the commencement of the new 
administration, an arrangement was made with Mr. Erskine, 
the British minister, by which the American government was 
induced to renew the trade with England ; but this arrange- 
ment was afterwards disavowed on the part of Great Britain. 
The succeeding negotiator, Mr. Jackson, having, soon after his 
arrival, used offensive language, the president declined having 
any further correspondence with him. An unhappy rencoun- 
ter between the American and English ships of war, the Pres- 
ident and the Little Belt, served to increase the unfriendly 
sentiments of the two countries. 

12. — (1812.) — The prospect of an amicable adjustment 
of existing difficulties, between the United States and Great 
Britain, continuing to become daily more dark and unpromis- 
ing, congress met, pursuant to adjournment, on the 25th of 
May, 1812 ; and, on the 1st of June, the president sent a mes- 
sage to that body, strongly recommending a declaration of 
war. The principal grounds for it, as stated in the message, 
were the impressment of American seamen by the British ; the 
blockading of the ports of their enemies ; the orders in coun- 
cil ; and a suspicion that the Indians had been instigated to acts 
of hostility by British agents. 

13. The bill for declaring war passed the house of repre- 
sentatives, by a vote of 79 to 49, and the senate, by one of 19 

26* 



306 UNITED STATES. 

to 13 ; and on the 18th of June, the day after it passed the 
senate, it was signed by the president. Five days after the 
declaration of war, the British orders in council were repealed, 
in consequence of the decrees of Berlin and Milan having been 
revoked. 

14. The minority of congress opposed the declaration of 
war, on the ground of its being, in their view, unnecessary and 
impolitic ; they maintained, also, that the aggressions of the 
French had been greater than those of the English ; and they 
entered a solemn protest against the measure. A considerable 
proportion of the people of the United States sympathized, in 
their views, with this minority ; and the war was, consequently, 
prosecuted with much less energy and success than it might 
have been, if there had been a unanimity in its favor. 

15. Notwithstanding the length of time during which hostil- 
ities had been meditated, they were commenced in a very im- 
perfect state of preparation on the part of the American 
government ; and, in consequence, the operations of the Amer- 
ican armies, by land, during the first year, were wholly un- 
successful and disastrous. 

16. On the 12th of July, General Hull, with an army of 
upwards of 2,000 men, invaded Canada ; and, on the 16th of 
August, he surrendered, with the whole of his troops, to the 
British. A second attempt to invade the province was made 
by General Van Rensselaer, who, with about 1,000 men, 
crossed the Niagara, in November, and attacked the British at 
Queenstown : after an obstinate engagement, he was obliged to 
surrender with his army. In this engagement the British com- 
mander, General Brock, was killed. 

17. While the operations of the troops of the United States, 
in Canada, were so extremely unfortunate and mortifying, 
brilliant success attended the American flag on the ocean. In 
August, the frigate Constitution, commanded by Captain Hull, 
captured the British frigate the Guerriere. In October, the 
frigate United States, commanded by Captain Decatur, took 
the British frigate the Macedonian. In November, the British 
sloop the Frolic, was captured by the sloop Wasp, under Cap- 
tain Jones ; but the Wasp was immediately after taken by the 
Poictiers, a British seventy-four. In December, the Constitu- 
tion, commanded by Captain Bainbridge, captured the British 
frigate the Java. In these four engagements, the total loss of 
the British, in killed and wounded, was 423 ; that of the 
Americans, only 73. 

18. — (1813.) — The operations of the war during this year 
were productive of alternate successes and reverses. In Janu- 
ary, a detachment of about 800 men, under General Winchester, 



UNITED STATES. 307 

was surprised and defeated by the British and Indians, 
under General Proctor, at Frenchtown, on the river Raisin. 
Those who had not fallen, amounting to about 500, surren- 
dered prisoners, a great part of whom were inhumanly massa- 
cred by the Indians. 

19. In April, a detachment of 1,700 American troops, under 
General Pike, after some severe fighting, took possession of 
York, in Upper Canada, and destroyed a large quantity of 
public stores. By the explosion of a mine, prepared for the 
purpose, General Pike, together with about 100 Americans, 
was killed. The British lost about 700 in killed, wounded, and 
captured. — Colonel Dudley, being detached from Fort Meigs, 
with 800 men, to attack the enemy's battery, was surrounded 
by a large army of Indians, under Tecumseh, and was defeated, 
with the loss of most of his troops. 

20. In May, an attack was made upon Sackett^s Harbor by 
about 1,000 British troops, under Sir George Prevost, who 
was repulsed, with considerable loss, by the Americans under 
General Brown. Two days before this event, Fort George, 
in Canada, was taken by the Americans under General Boyd 
and Colonel Miller. The British, who were commanded by 
General Vincent, lost nearly 1,000 in killed, wounded, and 
captured. A few days afterwards, Generals Chandler and 
Winder, who had advanced with a considerable force, were 
surprised in the night, not far from the fort, by the British un- 
der General Vincent, and were both taken prisoners. 

21. The most brilliant achievement, during this year, was 
the defeat of the British naval force on Lake Erie, in Septem- 
ber, by Commodore Perry. The British fleet consisted of 6 
vessels, having 63 guns ; that of the Americans, of 9 vessels, 
with 56 guns. The conflict, which lasted three hours, was tre- 
mendous ; but the victory was complete. The British force, 
being reduced to almost a total wreck, fell entirely into the 
hands of the Americans, who were, by this achievement, ren- 
dered masters of the lake. 

22. After this victory, General Harrison embarked his main 
army on board the American squadron, landed on the Canadian 
shore, and in October, near the Thames, defeated and dispersed 
the British army under General Proctor. In this action the 
enemy sustained a severe loss, and the celebrated Indian chief 
Tecumseh was killed. But the Americans were afterwards re- 
pulsed at Williamsburg. 

23. Great preparations had been made for the conquest of 
Canada, under Generals Wilkinson and Hampton ; but nothing 
of importance was effected ; and a disagreement between the 
two generals prevented that concert which was necessary to 



308 UNITED STATES. 

insure success. The village of Newark, in Canada, being 
burnt by the Americans, the British crossed over, and, in re- 
taliation, burnt Buffalo, which was then a small town, and some 
other villages. During this year, the British, under Admiral 
Cockburn, committed various depredations in the south, and on 
the shores of the Chesapeake ; but they were repulsed at Cra- 
ney Island, near Norfolk. 

24. The English were more successful on the ocean during 
this year, than during the preceding. The American flag, 
however, was not, in any instance, disgraced ; nor were the 
American ships and men found inferior to those of Britain of 
equal force. In February, the Hornet, commanded by Cap- 
tain Lawrence, captured the British sloop the Peacock. In 
June, the Chesapeake, under Captain Lawrence, was captured 
by the Shannon, commanded by Captain Broke. In August, 
the Argus was captured by the English sloop the Pelican ; 
and, in September, the British brig the Boxer surrendered to 
the Enterprise. 

25. — (1814.) — The campaign of 1814 was distinguished 
by more severe fighting in Canada than had before occurred. 
On the 2d of July, the Americans under General Brown, 
having taken Fort Erie, proceeded to attack the British under 
General Drummond, at Chippewa, where, on the 5th, an obsti- 
nate engagement took place, which terminated in favor of the 
Americans. On the 25th of the month, a more sanguinary 
and warmly contested battle was fought, at Bridgewater, by 
the Americans under Generals Brown and Scott, and the Brit- 
ish under Generals Drummond and Riall. The British were 
forced to retreat, with the loss of about 900 in killed, wounded, 
and taken. The American army was also so much weakened 
that it fell back to Fort Erie, which the British afterwards at- 
tempted to storm ; but they were repulsed with a severe loss. 
This was the last important operation of the war on this frontier. 

26. Sir George Prevost, having received large reinforce- 
ments from the troops which had been employed under the 
Duke of Wellington, in Spain, now advanced with an army 
of 14,000 men, to carry offensive war into the United States ; 
and his first attempt was on Plattsburg. The operations of 
this army were accompanied by those of the British naval 
force on Lake Champlain, consisting of 95 guns and 1,050 
men, commanded by Commodore Downie. This force was to- 
tally defeated by the American fleet, having 86 guns and 826 
men, under the command of Commodore Macdonough: Dur- 
ing the engagement between the fleets, Sir George Prevost 
attacked the forts of Plattsburg, but was effectually repulsed by 
the Americans under General Macomb. The loss of the Brit- 



UNITED STATES. 309 

ish, in killed, wounded, and deserters, was estimated at 2,500 ; 
while that of the Americans, both on the land and water, was 
only 231. 

27. In August, a British fleet of about 60 sail arrived in the 
Chesapeake, and an army of about 5,000 men, under General 
Ross, landed in the Patuxent, about forty miles from the city 
of Washington. Having easily put to flight the American 
militia, under General Winder, at Bladensburg, the enemy 
entered Washington, burnt the capitol, the president's house, 
and other public buildings, and retired without molestation. 
In September, about a fortnight after this transaction, the Brit- 
ish army, to the number of about 7,000, under General Ross 
and Admiral Cockburn, made a similar attempt on Baltimore ; 
but, after gaining some advantages, they were finally repulsed. 
In this attempt General Ross was killed. 

28. On the ocean, the American flag maintained its reputa- 
tion, and in no instance yielded to an inferior or an equal 
force. The American frigate the Essex, however, was cap- 
tured by the British frigate the Plicebe and the sloop Cherub, 
of a superior force ; and the frigate President, by a squadron 
of the enemy ; but the British vessels of war the Epervier, 
Avon, Reindeer, Cyane, Levant* and Penguin, were taken by 
the Americans. 

29. As the war between the United States and Great Britain 
was a branch of the great European quarrel, it naturally fell 
to the ground when that quarrel ceased. The matters in dis- 
pute between the two countries related to maritime and neutral 
rights ; but, with regard to these subjects, there was no longer 
any cause of difference, as the world was at peace. On the 
restoration of peace in Europe, both parties began to think 
seriously about ending the war ; and the Emperor of Russia 
offered his services as mediator, which were, however, declined 
by the British government, and a direct negotiation at London 
or Gottenburg was proposed. In April, 1813, commissioners, 
on the part of the United States, were appointed to meet others 
from England at Gottenburg ; but the place of meeting was 
afterwards changed to Ghent, where a treaty was finally signed 
on the 24th of December, 1814. 

30. While the negotiation was in progress, a large arma- 
ment, under the command of Sir Edward Packenham, was 
fitted out by Great Britain for an attack on Neiv Orleans, with 
the intention, apparently, of ending the war with some eclat ; 
but the design met with a most signal and fatal defeat. The 
British, after enduring great fatigues and numerous difficulties, 
and sustaining some desperate encounters, assaulted the works 



310 UNITED STATES. 

thrown up for the defence of the city, on the 8th of January, 
1815, when they were dreadfully cut to pieces and repulsed by 
the Americans under General Jackson. The loss of the enemy, 
in killed, wounded, and captured, amounted to about 2,600 ; 
among the slain were the commander-in-chief, General Pack- 
enham, and other principal officers. The loss of the Amer- 
icans was only seven killed and six wounded. This was the 
last important operation of the war. 

31. In 1814, the northeastern States were in a very exposed 
condition, being destitute of protection from the national troops, 
and great alarm was excited among the people. At this junc- 
ture, the legislature of Massachusetts proposed a conference, 
by delegates from the legislatures of the New England States, 
and of any of the other States that might accede to the meas- 
ure, in order to devise and recommend to these States measures 
for their security and defence. A convention, composed of 
distinguished men, delegates from the New England States, 
accordingly met at Hartford, in Connecticut, on the 15th of 
December ; and, after a session of three weeks, they published 
the result of their deliberations. The commissioners of the con- 
vention, who were sent to confer with the national government, 
and the treaty of peace with Great Britain, arrived at Washing- 
ton about the same time ; so that the war and all proceed- 
ings relating to its continuance were, at length, happily termi- 
nated. 

32. In the treaty of Ghent, no allusion is to be found to the 
causes of the war ; nor was any attempt made to settle the 
vexed question respecting the right of Great Britain to impress 
her seamen on board American vessels, or any of the other 
points in dispute, each party being left, precisely as it was be- 
fore the war, in possession of all its real or imaginary rights. 
In case, therefore, that Great Britain should be engaged in 
another European war, the questions between the two coun- 
tries, which were, for a time, set at rest by peace, might be 
again revived, and lead to new difficulties. But it is to be 
hoped that both nations will see, that it is their interest, as well 
as duty, to cultivate friendly relations, to avoid every cause of 
hostile contention, and to draw closer every tie, whether of 
consanguinity, religion, or interest, which may firmly unite 
them in a lasting peace. 

33. When the waste of life and of property, the amount of 
crime and of suffering, which war always occasions, and the 
little chance there is, that, by an appeal to arms, the wrongs 
of an injured nation will be properly redressed, are duly con- 
sidered, every Christian patriot and every philanthropist must 



UNITED STATES. 311 

desire that some better method of settling national disputes 
may be established and carried into practice ; — some method 
which would not only be free from the multiplied evils of war, 
but by which an adjustment of the points in dispute might be 
made more on a basis of law and equity. 

34. Mr. Madison, after having filled the office of president 
eight years, was succeeded, in 1817, by James Monroe, who had 
held the office of secretary of state during most of the time of 
Mr. Madison's administration. In 1821, Mr. Monroe wanted 
only a single vote of a unanimous reelection. 

35. During Mr. Monroe's administration, the United States 
were at peace, with the exception of a war with the Seminole 
and Creek Indians ; and the prosperity of the country, which 
had been interrupted by the war with England, was gradually 
restored. 

36. In 1$21, Florida was ceded by Spain to the United 
States, for the sum of $5,000,000. 

37. The admission of the State of Missouri into the union, 
which took effect in 1821, gave rise to a very spirited discus- 
sion of the question of slavery, — a subject which has ever 
since continued to occasion political excitement. The bill for 
its admission, without restriction of slavery, passed the house 
of representatives, after a long and exciting debate, by a vote 
of 90 to 86. It was accompanied by a declaration prohibiting 
slavery in the territories north of lat. 36.30 N. This is what 
has been since called " the Missouri compromise." 

38. In August, 1824, General Lafayette, having received an 
invitation from congress, landed at New York, on a visit to the 
United States ; passed through twenty-four of the States ; was 
everywhere enthusiastically received as the nation's guest ; 
was present, on the 17th of June, 1825, at the celebration of 
the 50th anniversary of the battle of Bunker Hill ; and, in Sep- 
tember, sailed for France. In the following December, con- 
gress made him a grant of $200,000, and a township of land 
in Florida, in consideration of his revolutionary services. 

39. In 1825, Mr. Monroe was succeeded by John Quincy 
Adams, who had held the office of secretary of state during 
Mr. Monroe's administration. In the presidential election of 
1824, there were four candidates for the presidency, — John 
Quincy Adams, Andrew Jackson, William H. Crawford, and 
Henry Clay. Of the electoral votes, Jackson received 99, 
Adams 84, Crawford 41, and Clay 37. There being no choice 
by the people, the election devolved upon the house of repre- 
sentatives ; and Adams was elected, having received the votes 
of 13 States, Jackson 7, and Crawford 4. 



312 UNITED STATES. 

40. During Mr. Adams's administration, the country was at 
peace and in a highly prosperous condition ; and advantageous 
treaties of peace and commerce were negotiated with various 
foreign nations. The policy of Mr. Monroe's administration 
was continued and greatly extended, in strengthening every 
arm of the national defence, by erecting light-houses, arsenals, 
fortifications, &c. ; by increasing the naval establishment ; and 
especially by improving the intercommunication between the 
different parts of the country. In these internal improvements 
more was effected by the aid of the government, during Mr. 
Adams's administration, than during the administrations of all 
his predecessors. 

41. The national government had agreed to extinguish, for 
the benefit of Georgia, the Indian title to the lands held by the 
Cherokees and Creeks in that State. In the last year of Mr. 
Monroe's administration, the Creeks, in a national council, re- 
fused to part with their territory. After the councrl broke up, 
however, a few of the chiefs remained, and were induced to 
make a treaty, ceding the lands to the United States. This 
treaty was repudiated by the Creek nation as an act of fraud ; 
but the governor of Georgia determined to act upon it as valid. 

42. At this juncture, the Indians appealed for protection to 
the president of the United States, who interposed to protect 
them from gross injustice. It was, however, deemed expedient 
to obtain the lands in question by fair purchase. This was 
subsequently accomplished ; and, in a few years, the Indians 
were removed to territories west of the Mississippi. 

43. In 1828, a new tariff law was enacted, imposing duties 
on imports, with a view to afford protection to American man- 
ufactures. The principle of a protective tariff has met with 
strong opposition, especially in the southern States ; and it has, 
ever since the passage of this act of congress, unhappily con- 
tinued to be a subject of contention between opposite political 
parties. 

44. On the 4th of July, 1826, John Adams and Thomas 
Jefferson died; the former in his 91st year, and the latter in 
his 84th. These distinguished men stood first and second on 
the committee of five appointed by congress to prepare the 
Declaration of Independence in 1776 ; and, of this instrument, 
Mr. Jefferson was the writer, and Mr. Adams the most power- 
ful advocate. They afterwards held, in succession, the office 
of President of the United States, and were also at the head 
of the two opposite parties, into which the country was long 
divided ; and they finally passed out of the world together, on 
the 50th anniversary of the day which their Declaration had 
rendered illustrious as the era of American Independence. 



UNITED STATES. 313 



SECTION VII. 

Jackson's Administration : Van Buretfs Administration : 
Harrison; — Tyler"* s Administration: Polkas Administra- 
tion ; War with Mexico : Taylor. — From A. D. 1829 to 
1849. 

1. In 1829, Mr. Adams was succeeded by Andrew Jackson, 
who had been principally known for his military achievements, 
and who, in the battle of New Orleans, and in conducting a 
war with the Seminole and Creek Indians, had acquired a high 
reputation as a military commander. 

2. General Jackson's administration was signalized by a 
more extensive removal of office-holders than had been prac- 
tised by any of his predecessors ; by a persevering hostility to 
the United States Bank, which terminated in the overthrow of 
that institution ; and by opposition to the policy of making ap- 
propriations for internal improvements. Several bills making 
such appropriations, and also a bill for the renewal of the 
charter of the United States Bank, which passed both houses 
of congress, he returned with his veto. 

3. In November, 1832, a convention of delegates, called by 
the legislature of South Carolina, assembled at Columbia, and 
pronounced the acts of congress of 1828 and 1832, imposing 
duties on foreign imports, for the protection of domestic manu- 
factures, unconstitutional, void, and not binding upon the citizens 
of that State. The remedy proposed was termed nullification. 

4. In the December following, President Jackson issued a 
proclamation, containing an exposition of the principles and 
powers of the general government, and expressing a determi- 
nation to maintain the laws. The Governor of South Carolina 
issued a counter-proclamation, calling on the people to resist 
any attempt to enforce the tariff laws. The president then ad- 
dressed a message to congress, recommending such measures 
as would enable the executive to suppress the spirit of insubor- 
dination, and sustain the laws of the United States. 

5. Everything, for a time, wore a threatening aspect ; but 
more moderate counsels at length prevailed. An appeal was 
made to South Carolina by the general assembly of Virginia ; 
Mr. Clay introduced a new bill, modifying the tariff, called the 
" compromise act," which was enacted into a law on the 1st 
of March, 1833 ; and the convention of South Carolina as- 
sembled on the 11th of March, and repealed the nullifying 
ordinance. 

6. In March, 1833, President Jackson, having been reelected, 

27 



314 UNITED STATES. 

entered on his second term ; and, in the following September, 
he directed the secretary of the treasury, Mr. Duane, to re- 
move the public funds or deposits from the United States Bank. 
This Mr. Duane having declined to do, he was removed ; and 
Mr. Taney was appointed in his place. By the latter the de- 
posits were removed and placed in several State banks. A 
resolution, strongly censuring the president for this measure, 
was passed by the senate in 1834 ; and, in 1837, the senate 
voted to expunge this resolution from their journal. 

7. In 1834, the country was disturbed by an apprehension of 
a hostile collision with France. The French government, by a 
treaty negotiated in 1831, had agreed to make indemnity for 
spoliations made on American commerce during the reign of 
Napoleon ; but it had failed to fulfil its engagements. The 
president recommended (1834) reprisals upon French com- 
merce. The measure, however, was not adopted by congress ; 
and the danger of open hostility was happily removed by the 
action of the French government in making, in the following 
year, provision to fulfil its stipulations. 

8. On the 16th of December, 1835, a great fire broke out 
in the city of New York, which destroyed the most of that 
part of the city which is the seat of its principal commercial 
transactions. This was the most destructive fire that ever took 
place in this country ; and the loss was estimated at upwards 
of $17,000,000. 

9. The public debt of the United States in 1816, after the 
close of the war with Great Britain, amounted to upwards of 
$127,000,000. After the return of peace, the debt was rapidly 
reduced ; and, in 1836, it having been all paid off, it was com- 
puted, that, on the 1st of January, 1837, there would remain 
in the treasury a surplus revenue of $27,000,000. An act 
was passed by congress (1836) for distributing this surplus 
(reserving $5,000,000), to be paid, in four instalments, to the 
several States, in proportion to their representation in the sen- 
ate and house of representatives. 

10. Near the close of the year 1835, a conflict commenced 
with the Seminole Indians, who refused to remove from Florida 
to lands appropriated to them west of the Mississippi, and the 
United States became involved in a long and expensive war 
with them ; but, in 1842, having been finally subdued, they 
were removed. The expenses of this war, from 1836 to 
1840 inclusive, as officially stated, amounted to upwards of 
$15,000,000, more than three times as much as was paid to 
Spain for the country of Florida. 

11. Andrew Jackson was succeeded, in 1837, by Martin 
Van Buren, who had held the office of vice-president the pre- 



UNITED STATES. 315 

ceding four years, and who, in his administration, continued 
the same general policy as that of his predecessor. 

12. In the spring of this year (1837) commenced the great- 
est commercial revulsion ever known in this country. A spirit 
of extravagant speculation had, for some years, prevailed; a 
multitude of State banks had been chartered, by means of 
which there was a great expansion of paper currency ; nu- 
merous and very expensive public works, as canals, railroads, 
&c, were undertaken by States and incorporated companies ; 
immense importations of foreign goods were made ; and real 
estate, especially in cities and villages, was raised far above 
its intrinsic value. At length the crisis came, with tremendous 
effect. The panic extended throughout the country, and all 
confidence and all credit were at an end. 

13. On the 10th of May, all the banks in the city of New 
York suspended specie payment ; and the suspension soon 
became general throughout the country. The mercantile 
classes were subjected to the greatest embarrassments, and 
failures were numerous in all the commercial cities. In the 
city of New York alone, the list, of failures, including only the 
more considerable ones, exhibited an amount of upwards of 
860,000,000. 

14. The national government became involved in the gen- 
eral embarrassment, inasmuch as the banks in which the public 
deposits were placed, had, like the rest, suspended specie pay- 
ment. In this state of affairs, the president convoked an extra 
session of congress, to meet on the 4th of September. Con- 
gress passed an act postponing, to the 1st of January, 1839, 
the payment to the States of the fourth instalment of the sur- 
plus revenue, and authorized an issue of treasury notes to the 
amount of 810,000,000, to be receivable in payment of public 
dues. A bill for placing the public money in the hands of 
receivers-general, called the sub-treasury or independent treas- 
ury bill, was recommended by the president, and passed the 
senate, but was lost in the house. This bill, after repeated 
failures, was finally passed and enacted into a law in June, 
1840. — In August, 1838, the banks throughout the country 
generally resumed specie payment. 

15. In 1837, a rebellion against the British government broke 
out in Canada. It was sustained by some men of talents and 
influence, and disturbed the peace of that country through the 
following year (1838). A considerable number of citizens of 
the United States, belonging to the parts of Vefrmont and New 
York which border on Canada, unhappily took part with the 
insurgents. Their course was condemned by the general gov- 
ernment; and the president issued a proclamation, exhorting 



316 UNITED STATES. 

such citizens of the United States, as had violated their duties, 
to return peaceably to their respective homes, and warning 
them that the laws would be rigidly enforced against such as 
should render themselves liable to punishment. 

16. In 1841, Mr. Van Buren was succeeded by William 
Henry Harrison, who had been somewhat distinguished in po- 
litical life, but more for his military services. He was inaugu- 
rated on the 4th of March, and died on the 4th of April, just 
one month after his inauguration. He was the first president 
of the United States that died in office, and his death was 
greatly lamented. 

17. General Harrison was the candidate of the Whigs, and 
Mr. Van Buren of the Democrats ; and the electioneering con- 
test was carried on with an excitement and enthusiasm never 
before witnessed in this country. Of the 294 electoral votes 
given for president, Harrison received 234 ; and John Tyler 
received the same number of votes for vice-president. On the 
death of President Harrison, John Tyler, in accordance with 
the provisions of the constitution, became president. But he 
refused to carry out the principles of the party by which he 
was elected ; nor did he become popular with any party. 

18. On the 31st of May, congress met in an extra session, 
which had been called by President Harrison, and, besides other 
acts, they repealed the sub-treasury bill, and passed two differ- 
ent bills, establishing a Fiscal Bank, or Fiscal Corporation of 
the United States, both of which were vetoed by the president. 
The establishment of such an institution was a favorite measure 
of the whigs, and the action of the president, in relation to it, 
caused much excitement ; and all the members of the cabinet 
resigned, with the exception of the secretary of state, Mr. 
Webster, who fortunately retained office till after the settlement 
of the difficulty with England in relation to the northeastern 
boundary. 

19. In 1842, a new tariff law was enacted, which made 
provision for the public revenue, and afforded protection to 
American manufactures and other branches of national indus- 
try, and which was a favorite measure of the whig party. 
This measure, as it was maintained by its friends, had a pow- 
erful influence in restoring a high state of prosperity to the 
country ; but it caused great dissatisfaction in some parts, es- 
pecially in the southern States. 

20. The northeastern boundary of the United States, be- 
tween the State of Maine and the British provinces of Lower 
Canada and New Brunswick, had been for some years a sub- 
ject of negotiation and controversy ; and at length it threatened 



UNITED STATES. 317 

to become a subject of serious national dispute. The difficulty, 
however, was amicably adjusted by the treaty of Washington, 
concluded in September, 1842, by Lord Ashburton and Daniel 
Webster. 

21. One of the last acts of Mr. Tyler's administration was 
the annexation of the republic of Texas to the United States, 
— a measure which was greatly promoted by the exertions of 
John C. Calhoun, the secretary of state, and which excited a 
spirited controversy. Joint resolutions for the annexation of 
that republic to the United States, as one of the States of the 
Union, passed the house of representatives, on the 25th of 
January, 1845, by a vote of 120 to 98 ; and the senate, on the 
1st of March, by a vote of 27 to 25 ; and, on the same day, 
they were approved by the president. 

22. In 1845, Mr. Tyler was succeeded by James Knox Polk. 
Mr. Polk was the democratic candidate ; and, after a very ex- 
citing electioneering contest, he received 170 electoral votes 
for president ; and Henry Clay, the whig candidate, received 
105 votes. 

23. The party by which Mr. Polk was supported took strong 
ground in favor of the annexation of Texas, and of the claim 
of the United States to the whole of the Oregon Territory ; 
and Mr. Polk, in his inaugural address, sustained the views of 
his party on both of these questions ; one of which threatened 
to involve the nation in hostilities with Mexico, and the other 
with Great Britain. 

24. The settlement of the northwestern boundary, between 
the United States and the North American territories of Great 
Britain, involving the claims of both parties to the Oregon Ter- 
ritory, had long been a subject of negotiation ; and it now as- 
sumed a threatening aspect. But it was happily adjusted by a 
treaty, concluded at Washington, in June, 1846, fixing on the 
49th degree of north latitude as the boundary-line. 

25. On the recommendation of the president, congress 
passed, in July, 1846, a new tariff law, having a primary view 
to the interests of the public revenue, and withdrawing, in a 
great measure, the protection to domestic industry afforded by 
the tariff of 1842. 

26. The war with Mexico grew out of the annexation of 
Texas to the United States. Texas, which was formerly a 
proviuce of Mexico, declared its independence in 1836; and, 
from that time, it had maintained a separate republican govern- 
ment ; but its independence had not been acknowledged by 
Mexico. In March, 1845, immediately after the passage of 
the resolutions of congress in favor of the annexation, General 

27* 



318 UNITED STATES. 

Almonte, the Mexican minister to the United States, remon- 
strated against these resolutions, and demanded his passports ; 
and all diplomatic intercourse between the two governments 
was immediately broken off. 

27. The boundaries of Texas were never definitely settled. 
The government of Texas and of the United States maintained 
that the southwestern boundary of that country was formed by 
the Rio Grande ; but the Mexicans contended that that bound- 
ary was formed by the river Nueces. The country between these 
two rivers was disputed territory, both parties claiming it : it 
was on this disputed territory that hostilities were commenced ; 
and each party charged the other with being the aggressor. 

28. In July, 1845, the legislature of Texas ratified the reso- 
lutions of congress, by which that republic w r as annexed to the 
United States, and requested President Polk to take immediate 
measures to defend the new State against an apprehended at- 
tack from Mexico. An American squadron was accordingly 
despatched to the Gulf of Mexico, and General Zachary Tay- 
lor was ordered to proceed to the southern frontier of Texas, 
with a sufficient force for its defence. 

29. In March, 1846, General Taylor, having previously con- 
centrated an army of about 4,000 men at Corpus Christi, 
received orders from the United States government to move 
forward, into the disputed territory, to the Rio Grande. He 
accordingly took a position on the left bank of that river, op- 
posite to Matamoras, where he erected a fort ; and, at the 
same time, he established a depot of supplies at Point Isabel, 
upwards of twenty miles in his rear, near the coast. 

30. A Mexican force of about 8,000 men was soon assem- 
bled on the Rio Grande, at and near Matamoras, under the 
command of Generals Ampudia and Arista, who declared the 
advance of General Taylor with his army to be a hostile move- 
ment. On the 24th of April, General Arista informed General 
Taylor that " he considered hostilities commenced, and should 
prosecute them." On the same day, a party of 63 American 
dragoons, under Captain Thornton, who had been despatched 
to reconnoitre, were surprised by a large Mexican force, 16 
being killed and wounded, and the rest taken prisoners. 

31. A few days afterwards, the greater part of the Mexican 
army crossed the river, and General Taylor being informed 
that they intended to attack Point Isabel, where his military 
stores were deposited, marched to the relief of that place, 
which he reached unmolested. The garrison there having 
been strengthened by a reinforcement of 500 sailors and ma- 
rines, from the American squadron in the Gulf of Mexico, he 
began, on the 7th of May, to retrace his steps to the Rio 
Grande. 



UNITED STATES. 319 

32. About noon the next day, he encountered the Mexican 
army, of 6,000 men, at Palo Alto ; and, after an action of five 
hours, he drove them from the field, with the loss of nearly 
400 in killed and wounded. The Americans, whose number 
was about 2,300, lost about 50 in killed and wounded, and 
among the former was the lamented Major Ringgold. 

33. On the following day, after advancing three miles, the 
American army again met the Mexicans, strongly posted at 
Resaca de la Pahna, and completely routed them, killing and 
wounding about 600, taking a large number of prisoners, 
among whom was General La Vega, and capturing all the 
cannon and military stores of the enemy. A few days after 
this battle, General Taylor crossed the Rio Grande, and took 
possession of Matamoras, which had been left by the Mexican 
troops. 

34. Early in May, the news of Captain Thornton's dis- 
aster reached Washington, accompanied by exaggerated state- 
ments of the peril to which General Taylor's army was exposed, 
and it produced great excitement. The president, in a special 
message, on the 11th of May, announced to congress, which 
was then in session, that the Mexicans " had invaded our terri- 
tory and shed the blood of our fellow-citizens on our own soil." 
Congress, after an animated debate of two days, declared, that, 
" by the act of the republic of Mexico, war existed between 
that government and the United States " ; and, at the same 
time, authorized the president to accept the services of 50,000 
volunteers for twelve months, and appropriated $10,000,000 to 
carry on the war. The whig members of congress proposed 
to strike out the preamble to the bill, in which it is asserted 
that the war existed by the act of Mexico, but without success ; 
and the bill, with the preamble, passed the house by a vote of 
142 to 14, and the senate by a vote of 40 to 2. 

35. It is proper to remark, that there was a strong feeling in 
a great part of the country against the war, and a large portion 
of the citizens, especially in the northern States, condemned 
it as unnecessary, unjust, and made for unworthy purposes. 
Such views were expressed by the legislatures of some of the 
northern States, and repeatedly by the whig members of con- 
gress. And notwithstanding the above vote relating to the war, 
in the house of representatives, the same body, in January, 
1848, declared, by a vote of 85 to 81, that it was " a war un- 
necessarily and unconstitutionally made by the President of the 
United States." 

36. General Taylor's force was soon after increased by a 
large number of volunteers from Texas and the adjacent States. 
The Mexican towns on the Rio Grande were seized and occu- 



320 UNITED STATES. 

pied, and camps formed to muster and drill the new levies, 
preparatory to an invasion of the interior of Mexico. 

37. After three months' preparation, General Taylor, with 
an army of between 6,000 and 7,000 men, proceeded to attack 
the strongly fortified city of Monterey, the capital of the State 
of New Leon, which was garrisoned by about 10,000 Mexican 
troops, commanded by General Ampudia. 

38. The American army reached Monterey on the 19th of 
September, 1846, and, on the 21st, assaulted the city with the 
view of taking it by storm ; and, after a severe and sanguinary 
struggle of three days, they became masters of the principal 
defences, and the greater part of the city. On the 24th, Gen- 
eral Ampudia proposed terms of capitulation, which were ac- 
cepted, and the Mexican army evacuated Monterey. At the 
same time, General Taylor agreed to an armistice of eight 
weeks, subject to the ratification of the governments at Wash- 
ington and Mexico. 

39. While these events were taking place near the Rio 
Grande, General Santa Anna, ex-president of Mexico, and the 
most distinguished military commander of that country, had 
returned from exile, and had overthrown the government of 
President Paredes, who was at the head of the party supposed 
to be most in favor of prosecuting the war with the United 
States. Strong hopes were entertained by the American gov- 
ernment that the influence of Santa Anna, on his restoration to 
power, would be exerted in favor of peace ; and the president 
accordingly had given orders to the naval commander in the 
Gulf of Mexico to throw no obstacle in the way of his return. 
But these expectations proved to be ill-founded ; and, under his 
administration, the Mexicans were roused to greater efforts, 
than they had hitherto made, to repel their invaders. 

40. Under these circumstances, the American government 
resolved to strike a decisive blow, by attacking Vera Cruz, the 
principal Mexican port and fortress, with the intention of 
thereby gaining access to the heart of the country, and to the 
capital of the republic, for the avowed purpose of " conquering 
a peace.' 1 General Winfield Scott was accordingly ordered to 
take the chief command of all the forces in Mexico, and to 
conduct the expedition against Vera Cruz. 

41. The armistice, which General Taylor had concluded at 
Monterey, was not approved by the authorities at Washington ; 
and, in November, his army resumed offensive operations, and 
speedily overran and subdued the States of Coahuila and Ta- 
maulipas. About this time, however, General Scott arrived at 
the seat of war, and withdrew from General Taylor the prin- 
cipal part of his army, including nearty all the regular troops, 
to augment the forces destined to besiege Vera Cruz. 



UNITED STATES. 321 

42. In February, 1847, General Taylor formed a camp of 
about 5,000 men, mostly volunteers, at Agua Nueva, near the 
city of Saltillo. On the 20th of the month, he learnt that 
Santa Anna, with 20,000 troops, had arrived within 30 miles 
of him, by a series of forced marches from San Luis Potosi, 
300 miles distant, across a barren country, almost destitute of 
water. General Taylor immediately broke up his camp, and 
fell back 11 miles to Buena Vista, where he posted his army 
in a very strong position, protected by deep ravines and rugged 
mountainous ridges. 

43. On the 22d of February, the Mexican army appeared in 
front of the American lines, and Santa Anna summoned Gen- 
eral Taylor to surrender, which the latter declined to do. 
Some skirmishing ensued ; but the battle did not begin until 
the 23d, when the Mexicans attempted, by repeated charges, 
to force the American lines. Notwithstanding some partial 
successes, achieved by their immense superiority of force, 
they were, at length, completely repulsed ; and, after a fierce 
and sanguinary contest, which lasted throughout the day, the 
Americans remained masters of the field. During the night, 
the Mexicans abandoned their camp, and retreated, in a state 
of great disorder, towards San Luis Potosi, from whence they 
had advanced. The American loss, in this battle, was 723 in 
killed and wounded, and that of the Mexicans amounted to 
about 2,000. 

44. On the 9th of March, 1847, General Scott landed near 
Vera Cruz, with an army of about 12,000 men. The city 
was immediately invested, and after a furious bombardment of 
several days, during which the destruction of life and property 
was very great, the Mexican commander, on the 29th of March, 
capitulated and surrendered the city, and also the famous 
fortress of St. Juan oV Ulloa, together with 5,000 prisoners and 
400 pieces of artillery. 

45. Early in April, the American army began its march 
from Vera Cruz to the city of Mexico. At the mountain pass 
of Cerro Gordo, about 50 miles from Vera Cruz, it encoun- 
tered the Mexican army, commanded by President Santa Anna, 
consisting of 12,000 or 15,000 men, strongly entrenched in an 
almost impregnable position. 

46. On the 18th of April, the Americans, who numbered 
8,500, began the assault, and in a few hours carried by storm 
all the batteries and entrenchments of the Mexicans, who fled 
in confusion, leaving in the hands of the victors about 3,000 
prisoners, 4,000 or 5,000 stand of arms, and 43 pieces of ar- 
tillery. Among the prisoners were five generals, one of whom, 
La Vega, had before been captured in the battle of Resaca de 



322 UNITED STATES. 

la Palma. The American loss in this engagement was 431 in 
killed and wounded ; the Mexican loss, about three times as 
many. 

47. The victory of Cerro Gordo was followed by the imme- 
diate surrender of the city of Jalapa, and the strong fortress 
of Perote ; and, on the 15th of May, the Americans entered 
Puebla, the most important city of Mexico, next to the capital. 
Here, the army, which had been diminished by death, sickness, 
and the departure of volunteers, to about 5,000 effective men, 
remained nearly three months, waiting for reinforcements and 
supplies. 

48. On the 7th of August, 1847, reinforcements having ar- 
rived, General Scott began his march from Puebla to the city 
of Mexico, at the head of about 11,000 men. On the 18th, 
the army reached the hamlet of San Augustin, 10 miles south 
of the capital ; and, on the 20th, two sanguinary battles were 
fought with a Mexican force of more than 30,000 men, who 
were stationed in and around the strongly fortified posts that 
defended the approaches to the city. In the first battle, that of 
Contreras, 4,500 Americans assaulted, and, in less than twenty 
minutes, drove from their entrenchments, 7,000 Mexicans, 
killing 700 and taking 813 prisoners, besides many colors and 
standards, and 22 pieces of artillery. In the second battle, 
that of Churubusco, the disparity of force was even greater, 
and the Mexican loss still more severe, — about 6,000 Amer- 
icans engaging and completely routing almost the whole Mexi- 
can army. General Scott thus speaks of the achievements of 
the army under his command on this occasion : — "It has in a 
single day, in many battles, as often defeated 32,000 men ; 
made about 3,000 prisoners, including 8 generals (two of them 
ex-presidents) and 205 other officers ; killed or wounded 4,000 
of all ranks, besides entire corps dispersed and dissolved ; cap- 
tured 37 pieces of ordnance, — more than trebling our siege 
train and field batteries, — with a large number of small arms, 
a full supply of ammunition of every kind, &c. — Our loss 
amounts to 1,053 : killed, 139, including 16 officers ; wounded, 
876, including 60 officers." 

49. These rapid and decisive victories caused such conster- 
nation among the Mexicans, that General Scott might at once 
have forced his way into the city ; but he forebore to do so, 
not wishing to drive the people to desperation, and, to use his 
own words, " willing to leave something to the republic on 
which to rest her pride and recover temper." Accordingly, 
he acceded to a request made by President Santa Anna for an 
armistice, the terms of which were agreed upon and signed on 
the 23d of August. 



UNITED STATES. 323 

50. Mr. Nicholas Trist, a commissioner appointed by the 
President of the United States, had arrived in Mexico some 
months before, and was now in General Scott's camp. Nego- 
tiations for peace were immediately commenced between him 
and commissioners appointed by the Mexican government. 
But as the latter proposed terms that were not satisfactory, and 
the Mexican military commanders were violating the terms of 
the armistice by erecting and strengthening fortifications, Gen- 
eral Scott recommenced hostilities on the 7th of September. 

51. On the following day, a division of the American army, 
3,200 in number, commanded by General Worth, carried by 
storm the strong position of El Molino del Rey, which was 
held by above 14,000 Mexicans, under the command of Presi- 
dent Santa Anna. The Mexican loss in this action, which was 
perhaps the most fiercely contested of the whole war, amounted 
to 3,000 in killed, wounded, and captured. The Americans 
lost, in killed and wounded, nearly 800, about one fourth of 
the number engaged. 

52. Five days afterwards, the fortress of Chapultepec, situ- 
ated on a steep, rocky hill, 150 feet in height, was stormed, and 
the army which supported it was routed and driven into the city ; 
the victorious Americans followed, and, by nightfall, one divi- 
sion of their army was within the gates of Mexico, while 
another occupied the suburbs. 

53. During the night, the shattered remnant of the Mexican 
army, and the members of the federal government and con- 
gress, fled from the city, of which the Americans took full 
possession the next day, September 14th, 1847. 

54. The total loss of General Scott's army, in these battles 
before Mexico, amounted to about 2,700 in killed and wounded. 
The number of American troops, that entered and took pos- 
session of this city of 140,000 inhabitants, was less than 6,000. 

55. Besides the invasions of Mexico by the armies com- 
manded by Generals Taylor and Scott, another was conducted 
by General Kearny, who, in the latter part of June, 1846, set 
out from Missouri, at the head of 1,600 men, mostly volun- 
teers from that State, for the purpose of conquering New 
Mexico. 

56. After a fatiguing march of about 1,000 miles across the 
prairies, General Kearny arrived at Santa Fe, of which he took 
possession, without opposition, on the 18th of August. _ He im- 
mediately declared himself Governor of New Mexico, and 
issued a proclamation, absolving the people from their allegi- 
ance to the Mexican government, and constituting them citizens 
of the United States. 

57. In December, 1846, Colonel Doniphan, a volunteer from 



324 UNITED STATES. 

Missouri, departed from Santa Fe, at the head of 900 men, to 
invade the Mexican State of Chihuahua. At Br actio, on the 
Rio Grande, a division of his force, 500 in number, encoun- 
tered 1,200 Mexicans, whom they put to flight, with a loss of 
about 200 in killed and wounded ; while the Americans had 
none killed, and only seven wounded. 

58. Two months later, on the 28th of February, 1847, at 
the Pass of Sacramento, Colonel Doniphan's little army met 
and defeated 4,000 Mexicans, commanded by the governor of 
the State, and occupying a strong position, defended by heavy 
artillery. On the following day, March 1st, they took posses- 
sion of the important city of Chihuahua. 

59. In the summer of 1846, Captain (afterwards Colonel) 
Fremont, who, with a party of about 60 men, was exploring 
California by order of the President of the United States, be- 
came involved in hostilities with the Mexican governor of that 
province. With the aid of a few American settlers, Fremont 
defeated the Mexican forces, which were much superior in 
number ; and, on learning that war existed between the United 
States and Mexico, he raised the American flag, and in con- 
junction with Commodore Stockton, who commanded the United 
States fleet in the Pacific, prosecuted the conquest of the 
country with such success, that, by the end of August, the 
whole of California was in possession of the Americans. 

60. Soon after the conquest of the city of Mexico by Gen- 
eral Scott, negotiations for peace began, which resulted in a 
treaty concluded on the 2d of February, 1848, at the city of 
Guadalupe Hidalgo, and ratified, with some modifications, by 
the American senate, on the 10th of the following March. 

61. By the provisions of this treaty, Mexico ceded to the 
United States the provinces of New Mexico and Upper Cali- 
fornia, and agreed to accept the Rio Grande as the boundary 

between her territories and Texas. — The territory acquired 
from Mexico, by this treaty, including Texas, as well as New 
Mexico and California, amounts, according to the statement 
of President Polk, in his message to congress in December, 
1848, to 851,598 square miles. 

62. The United States, in return, stipulated to pay Mexico 
15,000,000 of dollars, and to assume the debts due to citizens 
of the United States by the Mexican government, to the amount 
of 3,500,000 dollars. 

63. Soon after the acquisition of California, important gold 
mines were discovered on the Sacramento, which have been 
found to extend over a large tract of country, and to exceed in 
richness any other gold mines known in any part of the world. 



UNITED STATES. 325 

These mines have caused a sudden emigration to California of 
great numbers of persons, not only from the United States, but 
also from various foreign countries. The quantity of gold ob- 
tained from the mines during the first year (1848), notwith- 
standing the insufficiency of means and the want of system 
and experience in operation, has been estimated to amount, in 
value, to upwards of $4,000,000. 

64. Such have been the progress and such the issue of the 
Mexican war, — a war presenting a series of remarkable vic- 
tories, under the able management of Gen. Scott and Taylor, 
and other American officers, and terminating in a great acces- 
sion of territory to the United States. Still the important ques- 
tion may be asked, Can the war be justified on moral or 
religious principle ? But however this question may be an- 
swered, it is to be hoped that a beneficent Providence will bring 
good out of evil, and cause, in the final result, an advancement 
of human freedom and human happiness, of good government 
and of true religion. 

65. In 1849, Mr. Polk was succeeded by Zachary Taylor, 
most of whose life had been spent as an officer in the army, 
and who, in the Mexican war, had acquired a high reputation 
as a military commander. General Taylor was the whig can- 
didate, and he received 163 electoral votes for president ; and 
General Lewis Cass, the democratic candidate, received 127 
votes. 



28 



326 



UNITED STATES. 



A. 1). 

1600 



Chronological Table of the History of the U. States. 



17 th 



1700 



18th 



1800 



19th 



7 
14 
20 
23 
24 
27 
30 
34 
35 
36 
43 
50 
64 
65 
70 
82 
92 

~2 
33 
63 
75 

76 
88 
89 
91 
92 
96 
97 
98 

1 

2 

3 

7 

9 

11 

12 

16 

17 

17 

21 
25 
28 
29 
32 
36 
36 
37 
41 
45 
45 
45 
46 
46 
48 
48 
49 



Virginia settled by the English. 

New York " ' " Dutch. 

Massachusetts " " English Puritans. 

New Hampshire " English Puritans. 

New Jersey " " Dutch. 

Delaware " " Swedes and Fins. 

Maine " " English. 

Maryland " " Irish Catholics. 

Connecticut " " English Puritans. 

Rhode Island " " English under Roger Williams. 

Confederation of the Colonies of New England for mutual defence, 

North Carolina settled by the English. 

New York surrendered by the Dutch to the English. 

The Colonies of Connecticut and New Haven united. 

South Carolina settled by the English. 

Pennsylvania settled by English Quakers under William Penn. 

The Colonies of Plymouth and Massachusetts Bay united. 



East and West Jersey united, and styled Neiv Jersey. 

Georgia settled by the English under General Oglethorpe. 

Peace of Paris : French war ends : Canada confirmed to Engl. 

The Revolutionary War begins : Peace restored in 1783. 

Declaration of the INDEPENDENCE of the United States. 

The Constitution of the United States adopted. 

GEORGE WASHINGTON, 1st President of the U. States. 

Vermont admitted into the Union as a State. 

Kentucky " " ■ " 

Tennessee " " " 

JOHN ADAMS, 2d President of the United States. 

Hostilities with France. 



THOMAS JEFFERSON, 3d President of the United States. 
Ohio admitted into the Union as a State. 
Louisiana purchased of France by the United States. 
General Embargo laid in all the ports of the U. S. ; repealed 1809. 
JAMES MADISON, 4th President of the United States. 
Louisiana admitted into the Union as a State. 
Declaration of War against England, June 18 : ends Dec. 24, '14. 
Indiana admitted into the Union as a State. 
JAMES MONROE, 5th President of the United States. 
Mississippi; in 1818, Illinois; in 1819, Alabama; in 1820, 
Maine ; in 1821, Missouri ; admitted into the Union as States. 
Florida ceded to the United States by Spain. 
JOHN QUINCY ADAMS, 6th President of the U States. 
The Tariff Law enacted, imposing protecting duties on imports. 
ANDREW JACKSON, 7th President of the United States. 
South Carolina passes an act to nullify the laws of the U. S. 
Michigan admitted into the Union as a State. 
j\ T*lc?ins£m " " " 

MARTIN VAN BUREN, 8th President of the U. States. 
WM. H. HARRISON, 9th, & John Tyler, 10th Pres. of U S. 
Florida admitted into the Union as a State. 
Texas annexed, and admitted into the Union as a State. 
JAMES K. POLK, 11th President of the United States. 
War with Mexico begins : Peace restored in 1848. 
Iowa admitted into the Union as a State. 
Wisconsin " " " 

New Mexico and California annexed to the United States. 
ZACHARY TAYLOR, 12th President of the United States. 



UNITED STATES. 



327 



Events of the Revolutionary War. 



1765 



66 
67 

68 
70 

73 

74 

a 

75 



76 



77 



78 



79 
80 



81 



83 



The Stamp Act passed by the British Parliament. 

Resolutions against the Stamp Act passed by the Assemblies of 
Virginia and Massachusetts. 

First Colonial Congress, from nine Colonies, meets at New York. 

The Stamp Act repealed by the British Parliament. 

Act of Parliament imposing duties on tea, paper, glass, and paint- 
ers' colors. 

British troops arrive at Boston. 

Affray between the British troops and the inhabitants of Boston ; 
three of the latter killed. 

British tea thrown into the harbor at Boston. 

The Boston Port Bill, shutting up the harbor, passed. 

First Continental Congress meets at Philadelphia. 

The Revolutionary War begins by a skirmish at Lexington. 

Ticonderoga and Crown-Point taken by the Americans. 

Battle. Victor. Loss. I Defeated. Loss. 

1 . Bunker Hill, I Howe, 1,054 \ Prescott, . . 453 

Congress meets ; George Washington chosen commander-in-chief. 

Boston evacuated by the British, and Canada by the Americans. 

Declaration of Independence ; July 4. 
Flatbush,or) H 
Brooklyn, ) ' 

3. White Plains, Howe, 3 or 400 
Fort Washington, on the Hudson, containing a garrison of up 

wards of 2,800 men, taken by the British 
Gen. Washington retreats through N. Jersey over the Delaware 

4. Trenton, 

5. Princeton, 

6. Bennington, 

7. Brandywine, 

8. Germantown, 

9. Stillwater, 
Burgoyne surrenders to Gen. Gates, at Saratoga, with 5,752 men. 
Articles of Confederation and perpetual Union between the Thir- 
teen United States. 

Treaty of Alliance between the United States and France. 



Putnam & Sullivan, 2,000 
Washington, 3 or 400 



Washington, 


9 


Rahl, 


1,000 


Washington, 


100 


Mawhood, . 


400 


Stark, 


100 


Baum & Breyman, 


600 


Howe, . 


500 


Washington, . 


1,000 


Howe, 


600 


Washington, 


1,200 


Gates, . 


350 


Burgoyne, 


600 



10. Monmouth, 

11. Rhode Island, 

12. Briar-Creek, 



Washington, 230 Clinton, . . 400 

Sullivan, 211 Pigott, . . 260 

Prevost, 16 Ash, . . .300 

Charleston, S. C, surrendered to Sir Henry Clinton. 
13. Camden, | Cornwallis, 325 j Gates, . . 730 

Treachery of Arnold in attempting to deliver up West Point, 



14. Cow-pens, 

15. Guilford, N.C 

16. Eutaw Springs 



Morgan, 72 I Tarleton, . . 800 

Cornwallis, 523 Greene, . . 400 

Greene, 550 | Stewart, . . 1,000 

New London taken and burnt by Arnold. 
Cornwallis surrenders to Washington at Yorktown, with 7,073 

men, the last important event of the Revolutionary War. 
Treaty of Peace with England ; the Independence of the United 
States acknowledged. 



Note. — The numbers 1 {Bunker Hill), 2, 3, &c, to 16 (Eutaw Springs), are prefixed 
to the places where the principal battles were fought, with the names of the victorious 
commanders, with their loss in killed and wounded, as stated by the best authorities, 
placed on the left of the defeated commanders. But the exact amount of loss, in many 
instances, was never ascertained. The two events most important to the American 
cause were the surrenders at Saratoga and Yorktown. 



328 



UNITED STATES. 



A. D. 

1600 



nth 



1700 



18th 



1800 



19th 



Chronology of Improvements and Events 

indicating the Progress of Society. 



39 



Tobacco first cultivated by the English in Virginia. 

Harvard College founded at Cambridge, Mass. 

First Printing Press in the Colonies, at Cambridge, Mass. 

Cambridge Platform adopted. 

Eliot's Indian Testament {Bible in 16G4) printed at Cambridge. 

William and Mary College founded at Williamsburg, Va. 

Cultivation of Rice introduced into South Carolina. 

Population of the Colonies about 260,000. 

Yale College, the third in the Colonies, founded. 



Boston News Letter, the first American Newspaper, published. 
First Post-Office in America, at New York. 
First Philadelphia Newspaper published. 
Tea begins to be used in New England. 
First New York Newspaper published. 
First Lodge of Freemasons in America, at Boston. 
College of New Jersey founded. 
White Population of the Colonies 1,046,000. 
First Medical School in the Colonies, at Philadelphia. 
American Philosophical Society instituted at Philadelphia. 
The streets of Boston first lighted with lamps. 
Population of the Colonies about 2,600,000. 
The number of Newspapers in the Colonies 37. 
American Academy of Arts and Sciences instituted at Boston. 
Bank of North America, first American bank, instituted. 
First American 74 gun ship built at Portsmouth, N. H. 
Bishop Seabury, first Bishop in the United States, consecrated. 
First American voyage to China from New York. 
Bishop Carroll, first Catholic Bishop in the U. S., consecrated. 
First Census of the U. S. taken: — Population 3,929,326. 
First Quarto Bibles printed in the U. S., at Worcester, Mass. 
United States Mint established at Philadelphia. 
The Cotton- Gin invented by E. Whitney. Cotton soon after- 
wards became an important article of produce. 
First Turnpike corporation in Massachusetts established. 
Transylvania University, first west of the Alleghanies, instituted. 



About 200 Newspapers published in the United States. 

Merino Sheep first imported. 

Middlesex Canal, the first large canal, completed. 

Steamboats first used on the Hudson. 

Andover Theological Seminary, first of the kind in the U. States. 

Number of Newspapers published in the United States 359. 

First Steamboat on the Mississippi and Ohio. — Navigation by 
steam was soon afterwards extensively introduced. 

The American Education Society instituted. 

The American Bible Society instituted. 

The Erie Canal completed. 

The American Temperance Society instituted. 

The Ohio Canal completed. 

The Columbia Railroad; and in 1835, the Boston and Loicell, 
Boston and Providence, Boston and Worcester, and Chesapeake 
and Ohio Railroads, opened. — Many other important rail- 
roads were soon afterwards completed. 

Number of Newspapers and other Periodicals in U S. 1 ,555. 



46 1 The Electric Telegraph first used for conveying intelligence. 



UNITED STATES. 



329 



Distinguished Americans. 



A. D. 
1600 



nth 



1700 



John Carver 21 
John Smith 31 

Lord Baltimore 32 
John Winthrop 49 
Edward Winslow 55 
Wm. Bradford 57 
Theophil. Eaton 57 
John Endicott 65 
Charles Calvert 76 
Philip, King, 76 
Sir W. Berkeley 77 
W. Coddington 78 
Sir Wm. Phips 95 



18th 



1800 



19th 



Statesmen and "g 
Civilians. ^S 



Sir Edm. Andros 14 
William Penn 18 
William Burnet 29 
William Shirley 71 
Josiah Quincy 75 
Peyton Randolph 75 
Phil. Livingston 73 
Rich. Stockton 81 
James Otis 83 

Jona. Trumbull 85 
Joseph Reed 85 
W. Livingston 90 
James Bowdoin 90 
Henry Laurens 92 
John Hancock 93 
Roger Sherman 93 
Richard H. Lee 94 
Patrick Henry 99 
Geo. Washington 99 
John Rutledge 



Samuel Adams 3 
Alex. Hamilton 4 
George Wythe 6 
Oliver Ellsworth 7 
Fisher Arnes 8 

Theoph. Parsons 13 
Samuel Dexter 15 
Caleb Strong 20 
Elias Boudinot 21 
Wm. Lowndes 22 
WilliamPinkney22 
C. C. Pinckney 25 
John Adams 26 
Thomas Jefferson 26 
Rufus King 27 

De Witt Clinton 28 
Tim. Pickering 29 
John Jay 29 

James Monroe 31 
John Randolph 33 
William Wirt 34 
John Marshall 35 
Aaron Burr 36 

James Madison 36 
Wm. H. Harrison 41 
Jeremiah Smith 42 
William Gaston 44 
Joseph Story 45 
James Kent 47 

John Q Adams 48 
Jeremiah Mason 4S 
James K. Polk 49 
Albert Gallatin 49 



Warriors and "« 
Commanders. "-§ 



Miles Standish 
John Mason 
Josiah Winslow 



Benj. Church 18 
Sir W. Pepperell 59 
John Winslow 74 
Joseph Warren 75 
R. Montgomery 75 
John Thomas 76 
Hugh Mercer 77 
David Wooster 77 
Count Pulaski 79 
Charles Lee 82 

Lord Stirling 83 
Nathaniel Greene 86 
Ethan Allen 89 
Israel Putnam 90 
Baron Steuben 94 
John Sullivan 95 
Francis Marion 95 
Anthony Wayne 96 
Thomas Mifflin 
Artemas Ward 



Philip Schuyler 4 
William Moultrie 5 
Henry Knox 6 

Horatio Gates 6 
Edward Preble 7 
William Eaton 7 
Benj. Lincoln 10 
James Clinton 12 
George Clinton 12 
Zebulon M. Pike 13 
James Lawrence 13 
William Heath 14 
Arthur St. Clair 18 
Oliver H. Perry 20 
Stephen Decatur 20 
John Stark 22 

Thomas Truxton 22 
J. Wilkinson 25 
J. Macdonough 25 
Thos. Pinckney 28 
Jacob Brown 28 
Thomas Sumter 32 
Wm. Bainbridge 33 
G. M. Lafayette 34 
Wade Hampton 35 
John Rogers 33 
S.VanRenss'la'r39 
John Armstrong 43 
Isaac Hull 43 

Andrew Jackson 45 
Edm'd P. Gaines 43 
Wm. J. Worth 43 
S. W. Kearny 43 

28* 



Divines. 



F. Higginson 30 
John Harvard 38 
Thomas Hooker 47 
Thomas Shepard 49 
John Cotton 52 
Nathaniel Ward 53 
John Norton 63 
Richard Mather 69 
John Davenport 70 
Charles Chauncy 72 
Urian Oakes 81 
Roger Williams 83 
John Eliot 90 



William Hubbard 4 
Samuel Willard 7 
Increase Mather 23 
Cotton Mather 28 
Benj. Colman 47 
David Brainerd 47 
John Cal lender 48 
Jona. Edwards 58 
Thomas Prince 58 
Samuel Davies 61 
Gilbert Tennent 64 
Jona. Mayhew 66 
Thomas Clap 67 
Samuel Johnson 72 
Charles Chauncy 87 
Mather Byles 88 
Joseph Bellamy 90 
J. Witherspoon 94 
Ezra Stiles 95 

Jer. Belknap 98 



Miscellaneous. .£ 



A. Hutchinson 43 
W. Brewster 44 



Edw. Johnson 72 
Nath. Morton 85 
Samuel Gorton 87 
Daniel Gookin 87 



R. Beverly 17 

Thomas Godfrey49 
James Logan 51 
Z. Boylston 66 
Jona. Mitchell 72 
John Clayton 73 
Cadw. Colden 76 
John Bartram 77 
John Winthrop 79 
T. Hutchinson 80 
Jona. Carver 80 
Ant. Benezet 84 
John Ledyard 89 
Tho. Hutchins 89 
John Morgan 89 
Benj. Franklin 90 
F. Hopkinson 91 
D. Rittenhouse 96 
James Wilson 
John Bard 99 



Jona. Edwards 1 
John Ewing 2 

Samuel Hopkins 3 
Joseph Willard 4 
John B. Linn 4 
Buckminster 12 
Abp. J. Carroll 15 
HE. Muhlenbergl5 
Bp. Theo. Dehon 17 
Timothy Dwight 17 
Sam. S. Smith 19 
Jesse Apple ton 19 
Joseph Lathrop 20 
Benj. Trumbull 20 
Sam. Worcester 21 
J. Heckewelder 23 
Jedediah Morse 26 
Edward Payson 27 
John M. Mason 29 
Bp. J. H. Hobart 30 
J. P. Wilson 30 
John H. Rice 31 
C. H. Wharton 33 
Ebenezer Porter 34 
Bp. Wm. White 36 
Abiel Holmes 37 
Noah Worcester 37 
Edward Griffin 37 
Nath'l Emmons 40 
JohnT. Kirkland41 
W. E. Channing 42 
Alex. V. Griswold43 
James Milnor 45 



George R. Minot 2 
Robert Morris 6 
John Dickinson 8 
Ch. B. Brown 9 
Joel Barlow 12 
Joseph Dennie 12 
Benjamin Rush 13 
Count Rumford 14 
Robert Fulton 15 
David Ramsay 15 
B. S. Barton 15 
Caspar Wistar 1 8 
Eli Whitney 25 
Gilbert Stewart 28 
Stephen Elliott 30 
William Tudor 30 
Isaiah Thomas 31 
John Trumbull 31 
S. L. Mitchell 31 
Nathan Dane 35 
William Rawle 36 
E. Livinsston 36 
PhilipS. Physic37 
Nat. Bowditch 38 
J. A. Hillhouse 41 
Noah Webster 43 
HughS. Legare 43 
Wash. Allston 43 
Ferd.R.Hassler43 
P.S.Duponceau44 
John Pickering 46 
A. H. Everett 47 
Henry Wheaton 43 



330 



UNITED STATES. 






Population of the United States. — Six Official Enumerations. 


States. 


1790. 


1800. 


1810. | 1820. 


1830. 


1840. 


New Hampshire, 
Massachusetts, 
Rhode Island, 
Connecticut, 
New York, 
New Jersey, 
Pennsylvania, 
Delaware, 
Maryland, 
Virginia, 
North Carolina, 
South Carolina, 
Georgia, 

Vermont, admit'd 1791 
Kentucky, " 1792 
Tennessee, " 1796 
Ohio, " 1802 
Louisiana, " 1812 
Indiana, " 1816 
Mississippi, " 1817 
Illinois, " 1818 
Alabama, " 1819 
Maine, " 1820 
Missouri, " 1821 
Michigan, " 1836 
Arkansas, " 1836 
Florida, " 1845 
Texas, " 1845 
Iowa, " 1846 
Wisconsin, " 1848 
Dist. of Columbia, 


141,899 

378,717 

69,110 

238,141 

340,120 

184,139 

434,373 

59,098 

319,728 

748,308 

393,751 

249,073 

82,548 

85,416 

73,077 

30,791 

'96,540 


183,762 
423,245 

69,122 
251,002 
586,756 
211,949 
602,365 

64,273 
341,548 
880,200 
478,103 
345,591 
162.101 
154^65 
220,955 
105,602 

45,365 

' 4,875 
8,850 

151,719 
14,093 


214,360 

472,040 

77,031 

262,042 

959,949 

249,555 

810,091 

72,674 

380,546 

974,642 

555,500 

415,715 

252,433 

217,713 

406,511 

261,727 

230,760 

76,556 

24,520 

40,352 

12,282 

20,845 

228,705 

20,845 

4,762 

24,023 


244,161 
523,287 

83,059 

275,202 

1,372,812 

277,575 

1,049,458 

72,749 
407,350 
1,065,379 
638,829 
502,741 
340,987 
235,764 
564,317 
422,813 
581,434 
153,407 
147,178 

75,448 

55,211 
127,901 
298,335 

66,586 
8,896 

14,273 

33,039 


269,328 

610,408 

97,199 

297,665 

1,918,608 

320,823 

1,348,233 

76,748 

447,040 

1,211,405 

737,987 

581,185 

516,823 

280,652 

6S7,917 

681,904 

937,903 

215,739 

343,031 

136,621 

157,455 

309,527 

399,955 

140,445 

31,639 

30,388 

34,730 

39,834 


284,574 
737,699 
108,830 
309,978 

2,428,921 
373,306 

1,724,033 

78,085 

470,019 

1,239,797 
753,419 
594,39S 
691,392 
291,948 
779,823 
829,210 

1,519,467 
352,411 
685,866 
375,651 
476,183 
590,756 
501,793 
383,702 
212,267 
97,574 
54,477 

43,112 
30,945 
43,712 


Total, 


3,929,827 


5,305,925 


7,239,814 


9,638,131 


12,866,920 


17,063,353 





Slaves 


IN THI 


United 


States 






States. 


1790. 


1800. 


1810. 


1820. 


1830. 


1840. 


Maine, 




















New Hampshire, 


158 


8 











1 


Vermont, 


17 

















Massachusetts, 




















Rhode Island, 


952 


381 


103 


48 


17 


5 


Connecticut, 


2,759 


951 


310 


97 


25 


17 


New York, 


21,324 


20,343 


15,017 


10,088 


75 


4 


New Jersey, 


11.423 


12,422 


10,851 


7,657 


2,254 


674 


Pennsylvania, 


3,737 


1,706 


795 


211 


403 


64 


Delaware, 


8,887 


6,153 


4,177 


4,509 


3,292 


2,605 


Maryland, 


103,036 


105,635 


111,502 


107,398 


102,294 


89,737 


Virginia, 


203,427 


345,796 


392,518 


425,153 


469,757 


448,987 


North Carolina, 


100,572 


133,296 


168,824 


295,017 


235,601 


245,817 


South Carolina, 


107,094 


146,151 


196,365 


258,475 


315,401 


327,038 


Georgia, 


29,264 


59,404 


105,218 


149,656 


217,531 


280,944 


Florida, 










15,501 


25.717 


Alabama, 








41,879 


117,549 


253.532 


Mississippi, 




3,489 


17,088 


32,814 


65,659 


195,211 


Louisiana, 




. , 


34,660 


69,064 


109,588 


168,452 


Missouri, 






3,011 


10,222 


25,081 


58,240 


Arkansas, 








1.617 


4,576 


19,935 


Tennessee, 


3,417 


13,584 


44,535 


80,107 


141,603 


183,059 


Kentucky, 


11,830 


40,343 


80,561 


126,732 


165,213 


182,258 


Ohio, 




. 




, 





3 


Indiana, 




135 


237 


190 





3 


Illinois, 




, 


168 


117 


747 


331 


Michigan, 




. 


24 




32 





Wisconsin, 












11 


Iowa, 












16 


Dist. of Columbia, 




3,244 


5,395 


6,377 


6,119 


4,694 


Total, 


697,897 


893,041 


1,191,364 


1,538,064 


2.009,031 


2,487,355 



UNITED STATES. 331 

Remarks. — The Population of the several States, and also the number 
of Slaves in each State, according to six censuses, or official enumera- 
tions, are exhibited on the preceding page. 

The census is not as correct as it should be. According to the census 
there are a few slaves in the States of New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Con- 
necticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois, 
though there are none in these States, slavery in them being prohibited by 
law. 

The first thirteen States in the table are the States which existed at the 
time of the forming of the Constitution of the United States. The other 
States are arranged in the order in which they have been admitted into 
the Union. 

Maine formed a part of the State of Massachusetts till 1820, when it was 
admitted into the Union as an independent State. 

By the table it will be seen that the Population of the United States has 
increased, from 1790 to 1840 (50 years), from less than four millions to 
upwards of seventeen millions. 

The number of Slaves has increased from a little less than eight hun- 
dred thousand to nearly twenty-five hundred thousand. 

The population of the United States, since 1790, has doubled once in 
about 24 years. 



Post-Offices. 

The number of Post-Offices in the United States, in 1790, was 75; in 
1810, 2,300; in 1830, 8,450; in 1849, 16,747. 

Kailroads. 

The first considerable railroads for conveying passengers in the United 
States were opened in 1 834 and 1 835. — The number of miles of railroad in 
use, in 1849, was upwards of 6,000. 

Literary Seminaries. 

Colleges. — The first college in the Colonies was founded at Cambridge, 
in 1638. The number of colleges existing, in 1700, was 3 ; the number 
of colleges and universities in the United States, in 1800, 26 ; in 1849, 
120. 

Medical Schools. — The number of medical schools in the United States, 
in 1800, was 3 ; in 1849, 35. 

Theological and Law Schools. — Almost all the theological schools in the 
United States have been established within the last forty years, and the 
law schools are of still later date. 

The number of theological schools in 1849 was 42 ; law schools, 12. 



CHAUT OF HISTORY. 



DESCRIPTION AND ILLUSTRATION. 

1. This Chart affords means of facilitating the study of 
History, similar to what are afforded by maps in the study of 
Geography. It supposes time to be flowing, in a stream, from 
the left hand to the right ; and represents, at one view, the 
principal States and Empires which have existed in the world, 
together with their origin, revolutions, decline, and fall. 

2. Those who may make use of this Chart are supposed to 
be conversant with the common principles of Geography, and 
to understand the relative situation and importance of the dif- 
ferent countries which are represented. It will be readily 
seen, that the spaces, which represent the several countries on 
the Chart, do not give any exact idea of the extent of those 
countries, but of the revolutions which they have undergone, 
and, in some degree, of their comparative importance in his- 
tory. Those parts of the world which are almost unknown in 
history (as, for example, all Africa except Egypt and the Bar- 
bary States) are not represented at all on the Chart. 

3. In the arrangement of the countries, the geographical 
order is generally followed. It unavoidably happens, that, 
owing to conquests, and other acquisitions, the several parts of 
an empire or state cannot always be placed in a contiguous 
position. To remedy this inconvenience, recourse has been 
had to coloring the different parts of the same empire with the 
same color, by means of which the eye can embrace, at one 
view, the various territories of which it was, at any given pe- 
riod, composed. The colors fit for this purpose are so few, that 
a repetition of some of them has been necessary ; but they are 
applied in such a manner as not to be likely to mislead the 
student. 

4. The scale of the main body of the Chart comprises a pe- 
riod of 2,700 years ; namely, from the year B. C. 800, to the end 
of the 19th century. This interval is divided into 27 equal parts, 
by perpendicular lines, extending from the top to the bottom, 
each space between the lines denoting the period of 100 years. 

5. To the left hand of that portion of the Chart appropriated 
to America, are represented the principal states that nourished 
in remote antiquity, from the time of the Deluge to the year 
800 before the Christian Era, 



334 CHART OF HISTORY. 

6. The several countries of which the history is delineated 
are represented by spaces included between horizontal lines. 
The slant lines denote the gradual conquest of a country ; as, 
for example, the conquest of the Britons by the Romans was 
commenced A. D. 43, but not completed till 84. 

7. In order to ascertain the date of any event or revolution 
in the history represented on the Chart, add the figures at the 
line denoting the event to the next century, if before Christ, on 
the right hand, and if after Christ, on the left hand, and the 
sum will give the date before or after Christ, as the case may be. 

8. Thus it appears, that Egypt dales from 2188 B. C. ; the 
Calling of Abraham, 1921 ; the foundation of Rome, 753 B. C. ; 
that Macedonia was annexed to the Roman Empire 168 B. C. ; 
that the Heruli conquered Italy, and put an end to the Western 
Roman Empire, in the year 476 after Christ ; and that the 
Turks put an end to the Eastern Empire in 1453. 

9. By carrying the eye horizontally upon the Chart, from the 
left hand to the right, one may see the succession of states and 
empires ; their rise, progress, and fall ; of what states they 
were composed, and what states rose from their ruins. 

10. By carrying the eye vertically upon the Chart, from the 
top to the bottom, one may see what states and empires were 
flourishing at any given era. At the period of 500 years B. C, 
it will be seen that the Persian Empire was much the most 
considerable then existing ; that it had swallowed up the Baby- 
lonian empire, and various other countries in Asia, and also 
Egypt » that the Grecian States existed separate and independ- 
ent ; that the republic of Rome was of very small extent ; and 
that the nations of the middle and north of Europe were un- 
conquered and independent. 

11. At the period of A. D. 100, it will be seen that the Ro- 
man Empire embraced almost all the then known world ; that 
the Britons had been recently subdued, but that the Irish, 
Scots, and the northern nations of Europe, and also the Par- 
thians, Arabs, Hindoos, and Chinese (nations then little known), 
were not conquered. 

12. At the period of A. D. 800, it will be seen that the three 
principal empires were those of the Saracens and the Franks, 
and the Eastern or Greek Empire ; that the Western Empire 
of the Romans had been, for upwards of three centuries, ex* 
tinct ; and that the kingdom of the Lombards had been recently 
terminated ; that England was under the government of the 
Saxon Heptarchy ; that Wales, Scotland, and Ireland were in- 
dependent, and the northern kingdoms not yet formed ; that 
the temporal dominion of the Pope had commenced ; that the 
Saracens were in possession of the greater part of Spain, the 



CHART OF HISTORY. 335 

whole of Arabia and Persia, a great part of the Eastern or 
Greek Empire, all Egypt, and Barbary. 

13. At the period of A. D. 1300, it appears that the three 
kingdoms of Sweden, Nonoay, and Denmark were separate and 
independent ; that a large part of the country, which now forms 
the Russian Empire, was in the possession of the Moguls ; that 
Poland was an independent kingdom, but that Lithuania was 
separate ; that England was in possession of Wales and Ire- 
land, but not of Scotland ; that Bohemia and Hungary were 
independent ; that a considerable portion of France belonged 
to England ; that Lorraine, Alsace, and Burgundy were in- 
dependent of France ; that Italy and Spain comprised various 
states, the latter being partly in possession of the Moors ; that 
Portugal had become an independent kingdom ; that the East- 
ern Empire was still in existence ; that the Moguls were in 
possession of Persia, a part of the Eastern or Greek Empire 
(modern Turkey), and China, as well as a part of Russia ; that 
the kingdom of Jerusalem had fallen into the possession of the 
Mamelukes ; and that the Mamelukes also possessed Egypt. 

14. At the period of 1800, it appears that Denmark was in 
possession of Norway, which was soon after annexed to Sice- 
den ; that the kingdom of Poland had been dismembered be- 
tween Russia, Austria, and Prussia, all of which had now 
become important sovereignties ; that Holland, the Netherlands, 
and a great part of Italy, had been recently annexed to France, 
but were soon after again separated from it ; that Naples had 
become an independent kingdom ; that the Turks were in pos- 
session of a great part of the countries most celebrated in an- 
cient history ; that the Wahabees had got possession of a great 
part of Arabia, and the English of Hindostan ; that the Eng- 
lish possessed Canada ; that the United States had become in- 
dependent of England ; that the Spanish Provinces in America 
belonged still to Spain, and Brazil to Portugal, but that soon 
afterwards they all became independent. 

15. The figures on the left hand of the American States de- 
note the time of the conquest or settlement of each ; those on 
the right hand, the time when each became independent. Thus 
it appears, that Virginia was settled by the English in 1607, 
and New England in 1620 ; that the United States became in- 
dependent in 1776 ; that Mexico was conquered by the Span- 
iards in 1521, and became independent in 1821. 

16. The four great empires of antiquity, as may be seen by 
the Chart, were the Assyrian or Babylonian, the Persian, the 
Macedonian, and the Roman. 

17. The Assyrian or Babylonian Empire was the most an- 



336 CHART OF HISTORY. 

cient, and was succeeded, in 536, by the Persian Empire, 
which was swallowed up, 330 B. C, by the Macedonian Em- 
pire. This latter empire, which, in its extensive form, was of 
short duration, was dissolved 301 B. C. 

18. The Roman Empire was much the most powerful em- 
pire of antiquity, and from about half a century before Christ, 
to the latter part of the 5th century after Christ, when the 
Western Empire was conquered by the Heruli, embraced the 
greater part of the then known world. 

19. The Heruli were supplanted by the Ostrogoths, that is, 
Eastern Goths; the latter by the Greeks; and these by the 
Lombards, who retained possession of Italy till 774, when they 
were conquered by the Franks, whose empire, during several 
centuries, was the most formidable in Europe. In 843, it was 
divided into three monarchies, France, Germany, and Italy. 

20. After the fall of the Western Empire of the Romans, 
the Franks, Goths, Vandals, Huns, Lombards, and other bar- 
barous nations, obtained possession of the principal part of 
Europe. 

21. The empire of the Saracens commenced before the 
middle of the 7th century, and continued through that and the 
8th and the 9th centuries, flourishing and powerful ; but was at 
length broken into various parts, and, in 1258, the Caliphate of 
Bagdad terminated. 

22. The empire of the Moguls was widely extended, in the 
early part of the 13th century, under the mighty conqueror 
Genghis - Khan ; and, in the latter part of the 14th century, 
Timur Bek, or Tamerlane, a Tartar, ran a similar career of 
conquest. 

23. By the Chart, it appears that, before the Christian era, 
England was inhabited by the Britons, who were conquered 
by the Romans in the first century after Christ, and continued 
subject till 410 ; that the Saxon Heptarchy was commenced in 
455, completed in 585, and continued till 827, when England 
became one kingdom, under Saxon monarchs ; that the Danes 
were possessed of the kingdom from 1013 to 1041 ; that the 
Saxons then regained possession, and held it till 1066, when 
they were conquered by the Normans, under William the Con- 
queror ; that Ireland was annexed to England in 1172, Wales 
in 1283, and Scotland in 1603 ; and that England held posses- 
sions in France from 1066 to 1588. 

[ The changes of other states and kingdoms, delineated on the Chart, 
will be easily understood.] 



CHART OF HISTORY. 337 



QUESTIONS ON THE CHART OF HISTORY.* 

1. What are some of the states and empires that flourished from the 
Deluge to 800 B. C. 1 2. How long before Christ was the Deluge ? 

3. When was Babel built ? 

4. From what period does Babylon date? 5. Egypt? 6. Sicyon, in 
Greece ? 7. What other cities in Greece were founded before 1400 B. C. ? 
8. What is the date of the Argonautic Expedition ? 

9. What is the period of Lycurgus? 10. When did the kingdom of 
Troy end ? 11. What is the date of the Calling of Abraham ? 

12. When were the Israelites in Egypt? 13. When did they enter 
Canaan ? 14. When were they first governed by a king ? 

15. When was the kingdom divided into the Ten Tribes of Israel and 
Judah ? 

16. When was Israel incorporated with the Assyrian Empire? 

17. When was Judah added to the Babylonian Empire? 

18. When was Phoenicia annexed to the Babylonian Empire ? 

19. When did the Babylonian Empire end ? 20. What empire succeeded 
if? 21. When did the Persian Empire begin and end ? 

22. By what empire was it succeeded ? 23. When was Egypt conquered 
by the Persians ? 24. When by the Macedonians ? 

25. When were Athens, Sparta, Thebes, &c, annexed to the Macedonian 
Empire ? 26. When was the Macedonian Empire dissolved ? 

27. When was the kingdom of Macedonia annexed to the Roman Em- 
pire ? 28. When did the Ptolemies govern Egyj)t ? 

29. When did the Seleucidce govern Syria? 30. When did the Ptolemies 
govern Judea? 31. When the Maccabees? 

32. What is the date of the foundation of Rome ? 

33. What is the date of the commencement of the Republic ? 

34. What were some of the nations first conquered by the Romans ? 

35. When were the Cisalpine Gaids conquered'? 36. Macedonia? 37. 
Greece or the Achcean League ? 38. The Carthaginians ? 39. The Gauls ? 
40. The Helvetii ? 41. Syria? 42. Judea? 43." Egypt? 44. The Britons? 

45. During what centuries was the Roman Empire most extensive ? 

46. When did the Roman dominion over the Britons end ? 

47. When did the Suevi obtain possession of Spain ? 

48. When did the Heruli conquer Italy ? 

49. When did the empire of the Franks begin ? 

50. During what centuries was it most extensive ? 

51. When did the kingdom of the Lombards in Italy begin and end? 

52. In what century did the Saracen Empire commence ? 

53. In what three centuries was it most flourishing ? 

54. What are the modern names of the countries which it embraced ? 

55. When did the Caliphate of Bagdad terminate? 

56. When did the Greek Empire of Nice terminate ? 

57. In what century was the Eastern or Greek Empire governed by 
French Emperors ? 58. When did the Eastern or Greek Empire end ? 

59. By whom was it conquered ? 

Modern Part. 

1. In what centuries was the empire of the Moguls most flourishing ? 

2. When were the Tartars in possession of Persia, &c. ? 

* By the Chart, it appears that Babylori was founded 2227 B. C. ; Sigyon, 2089 B. C ; 
Argos, 1856 B. C, &c. 

29 



338 



CHART OF HISTORY. 



3. Who anciently inhabited Sweden, Norway, Denmark, and Russia ? 
. 4. When were Sweden, Norway, and Denmark all united together ? 

5. With what country was Norway connected from 1448 to 1814 ? 

6. In what centuries did the Moguls or Tartars possess a part of Russia ? 

7. When was Roland divided between Russia, Austria, and Prussia ? 

8. Who were the ancient inhabitants of England 1 

9. In what centuries were the Romans in possession of Britain ? 

1 0. In what centuries did the Saxon Heptarchy exist ? 

11. When did the Saxon Heptarchy end, and the kingdom under the 
Saxon monarchs begin 1 12. When did the Danes obtain possession of 
England 1 13. When the Normans'? 

14. When was Ireland added to England ? 15. Wales? .16. Scotland? 

17. In what centuries did England hold possessions in France ? 

18. When was Bohemia annexed to the House of Austria ? 19. When 
Hungary ? 

20. When was the empire of the Franks divided into the three sove 
reignties of Germany, France, and Italy? 

21. When did the empire of Germany end ? 
When did the republic of Holland begin and end ? 
What nation held possessions in France from 1066 to 1558? 
What countries were annexed to France a little before 1800 ? 
When did the republic of Switzerland commence ? 
In what centuries did Naples belong to Spain ? 
When did Naples become independent ? 
When did the dominion of the Moors in Spain cease ? 
How many centuries has Spain been united in one kingdom ? 
When did the kingdom of Portugal commence ? 
During a part of what centuries was it united with Spain 1 
When did the empire of the Turks commence ? 
How many centuries have their dominions been as extensive as at 

present ? 

34. When did the Sophis or Shahs get the possession of all Persia ? 

35. What different people have been in possession of Persia since the 
downfall of the ancient Persian Empire ? 

36. When did the dominion of the Wahabees in Arabia commence ? 
When did the English dominion in India begin ? 
When did the Mantchew Tartars gain possession of China ? 
What different nations have possessed Egypt since 800 B. C. ? 
When did the Turks get possession of Egypt ? 
What nation first settled Canada ? 
When did the English gain possession of Canada ? 
When and by whom was Virginia settled ? 44. New York ? 45. 

New England ? 46. Pennsylvania ? 

47. When did the United States become independent ? 

48. Which country on the continent of America was first settled by 
Europeans ? 49. When was Mexico conquered by the Spaniards ? 

50. What other countries were soon after colonized by the Spaniards ? 

51. By whom was Brazil colonized ? 

52. Which of the countries in South America first became independent ? 

53. What others soon followed ? 

54. How long did Spain possess Mexico ? 



22. 
23. 
24. 
25. 

26. 
27. 
28. 
29. 
30. 
31. 
32. 
33. 



37. 
38. 
39. 
40. 
41. 
42. 
43. 



CHRONOLOGY. 



Chronology is a science which treats of the natural and 
artificial divisions of time ; and it refers to certain points or 
eras the various events recorded in history. 

Various eras have been adopted in different ages, and by 
different nations, in the computation of time, and in adjusting 
the dates of events recorded in history. Some of the most 
important only of these eras can be here mentioned. 

1. The Olympiads. The Greeks computed their time by 
the era of the Olympiads, which date from the year 776 B. C, 
being the year in which Coroebus was successful at the Olym- 
pic games. This era differed from all others, in being reck- 
oned by periods of four years instead of single years. Each 
period of four years was called an Olympiad, and, in marking 
a date, the year and the Olympiad were both mentioned. 

2. The Foundation of Rome. The Romans reckoned 
their time from the date assigned for the founding of Rome, 
corresponding to the year 753 B. C. This era is designated 
by the letters A. U. C, or ah urbe conditd, " from the building 
of the city." 

3. The Christian Era. The Christian era, which is used 
by Christian nations, is reckoned from the birth of Christ, 
which, according to the Hebrew text of the Old Testament, 
took place A. M. (in the year of the world) 4004 ; according 
to the Samaritan text, A. M. 4700 ; and, according to the Sep- 
tuagint, A. M. 5872. The computation according to the He- 
brew text is followed in this work ; and it is generally adopted 
in English literature. The birth of Christ is supposed to have 
taken place about four years earlier than the period assigned 
to it in the vulgar era. 

The computation by the Christian era first began to be used 
in the 6th century. The Roman or Julian year was followed, 
consisting of 365 days and 6 hours, which exceeded the true 
time of the solar year by a little more than 11 minutes. This 



340 CHRONOLOGY. 

erroneous computation had, in the year 1582, occasioned a de- 
viation of 10 days from the true time ; and in that year (1582) 
Pope Gregory introduced a reform into the calendar, by taking 
10 days from the month of October. The calendar thus re- 
formed (called New Style) was immediately introduced into all' 
Catholic countries. The reckoning according to the Julian 
year (called Old Style) continued to be used in England till 
the year 1752, when 11 days were omitted in September, the 
day after the 2d being accounted the 14th. — The Greeks and 
Russians still use the Old Style. 

4. The Era of the Hegira. The era of the Hegira, which 
dates from the flight of Mahomet from Mecca to Medina, is 
used by Mahometan nations, and corresponds to the 16th of 
July, A. D. 622. 

5. The American Era. The era most used in this country, 
next to the Christian era, is that of the Declaration of the In- 
dependence of the United States, which took place on the 4th 
of July, 1776. 

Comparison of Different Eras. 

Year. 

f 3228 of the Creation of the World. 
The Era of the Olympiads J 23 before the Foundation of 

corresponds to j 776 before Christ. [Rome. 

[_ 1398 before the Hegira. 

C 3251 of the Creation of the World. 
The Foundation of Rome J 4 of the 6th Olympiad. 

corresponds to j 753 before Christ. 

[_ 1375 before the Hegira. 

IT 4004 of the Creation of the World. 
The Christian Era corre- J 1 of the 195th Olympiad. 

sponds to . . j 753 of the Foundation of Rome. 

(_ 622 before the Hegira. 

f" 4626 of the Creation of the World. 
The Hegira corresponds J 3 of the 348th Olympiad. 

to j 1375 of the Foundation of Rome. 

I 622 of the Christian Era. 



CHRONOLOGY. 341 



Chronological Table. 

In the following table the most important epochs are given, 
together with a system of Artificial Memory, to facilitate the 
recollecting of dates. This system is derived chiefly from 
Dr. Grey's Memoria Technica. 

In order to facilitate remembering dates, a word is formed 
of the name recorded, or of the first syllables of it, together 
with one or more syllables added to it, and made up of numeral 
letters. For this purpose, a vowel and a consonant are as- 
signed to each digit, and a or b denote 1 ; e or d 2 ; i or t 3 ; 
o orf 4 ; and so on, in the following series : — 



a 


e 


i , 





u 


au 


01 


00 


ou 


ai 


1 


2 


3 


4 


5 


6 


7 


8 


9 





b 


d 


t 


/ 


V 


s 


P 


k 


n 


z 



These letters may be easily remembered by considering 
that the first five vowels represent 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 ; that the 
diphthong au, which is composed of a 1 and u 5, denotes 6 ; 
that oi, for the same reason, denotes 7, oo 8, and ou 9. The 
diphthong ai is put for the cipher 0, but without any similar 
reason. 

The first consonant, b, denotes 1 ; d, the first letter of duo, 
the Latin for two, denotes 2 ; t, the initial of the word three, 
is put for 3; f, for the same reason, for 4; v (V being the 
Roman numeral for five) denotes 5 ; s, the initial of six, is put 
for 6 ; p, from septem, the Latin for seven, denotes 7 ; k, from 
the Greek okio, eight, is put for 8 ; n, the initial of the word 
nine, denotes 9 ; and %, the final letter, is put for 0. 

Having perfectly learned the foregoing series, the student 
may proceed to exercise himself in the formation and resolu- 
tion of dates, in the following manner : — 



10 


189 


342 


390 


659 


1492 


1776 


1830 


az 


boon 


tod 


tonz 


sun 


afne 


apois 


booiz 



The system may be extended at pleasure ; and, by the for- 
mation of words in the manner described, it will be easy to fix 
in the mind the time of the death of illustrious men, the com- 
mencement of the reigns of kings, and other events, of which 
it is desirable to remember the date. It will be easy to re- 
member whether the event took place before or after Christ. — 
Besides the series of letters already explained, g may denote a 
hundred, and ih a thousand. 

29* 



342 CHRONOLOGY. 



Table. 

4004 Creation of the world Cre-faizo 

2348 Deluge Bel-etok 

2247 Babel built ; mankind dispersed Babel-edop 

2188 The kingdom of Egypt commences Egypt-e6oo& 

1921 Calling of Abraham Abrah-aweft 

1556 Athens founded by Cecrops Ath-avws 

1493 Cadmus brings letters into Greece and builds Thebes .... Cadmus- bont 

1491 Israelites brought out of Egypt by Moses Israel-ftono 

1263 Argonautic expedition . . Argonaut-6esf 

1184 Troy taken and burnt by the Greeks Troy-bako 

1075 Saul king of Israel Saul-azpu 

1012 The Temple of Solomon founded Templ-azad 

884 Lycurgus reforms the laws of Lacedaemon Lycurg-ooAo 

776 The first Olympiad begins Olym-pois 

753 Rome founded by Romulus Rom-put 

536 Cyrus founds the Persian empire Cyru-vis 

509 Tarquin expelled from Rome Tarquin-??am 

490 Battle of Marathon Marath-cmz 

400 Socrates put to death Socrat-ozm 

324 Alexander the Great dies at Babylon Alexand-i'do 

312 The era of the Seleucidaz Seleucid-i&e 

146 Greece reduced to a Roman province Greece-6os 

31 Battle of Actium; end of Roman commonwealth Actium-to 

Birth of Christ ; 4 years before the vulgar era. 

70 Jerusalem taken and destroyed Jerusal-oiz 

98 Trajan emperor of Rome Trajan-raoo 

306 Constantine emperor of Rome Constan-tos 

476 End of the Western Roman empire Rom-fois 

622 Era of the Hegira, or Flight of Mahomet Hegira-sec? 

S00 Charlemagne emperor of the West Charlemag-oozaj 

827 The kingdom of England begins under Egbert ...... England- kep 

1066 William the Conqueror king of England WiVL-baisau 

1096 First Crusade to the Holy Land Crusad-azows 

1227 Genghis-khan's conquests in Asia Genghis- bedoi 

1258 End of the Caliphate or Saracen empire Caliphat-adw/fc 

1340 Gunpowder invented at Cologne, by Schwartz Gunpowder-atoz 

1370 Wickliffe propagates his doctrines in England Wickliff-aJoiz 

1398 Timur Bek or Tamerlane's conquests T'umix-bink 

1440 The art of Printing invented Print-afoz 

1453 Eastern Empire ends ; Turks take Constantinople Turks -q/W 

1492 America discovered by Columbus America-6owe 

1517 The Reformation in Germany begun by Luther Reform-a^ap 

1603 Union of England and Scotland under James I. Jam-asait 

1620 Plymouth, Mass., settled by the Puritans Plymouth-fiawez 

1688 Revolution in England Revolut-asoo/t 

1776 Independence of the United States declared Independen-cpoz's 

1789 First French Revolution Revolut-qpoorc 

1804 Bonaparte crowned emperor of France Bonapart-6oozo 

1815 Battle of Waterloo Waterl-a/t6« 

1848 France declared a republic Republ-akok 



SACRED HISTORY. 



The historical parts of the Bible treat chiefly of the history of the 
Israelites or Jews. The other principal source of information, in addition 
to the Scriptures, relating to the ancient history of the Israelites, is to be 
found in the writings of Josephus, a Jewish historian, who lived in the time 
of the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans. The Old Testament his- 
tory of the Israelites ends with the book of Nehemiah, about 440 years 
B. C. ; and, from this time to the birth of Christ, Josephus is the principal 
authority for Jewish history. 

The Israelites were descended from Abraham, who was called, according 
to the common computation, 427 years after the Deluge, and 1921 B. C, 
to separate himself "from his kindred and his father's house" [see 
Genesis xii.], and who received a promise that the Messiah should be of 
his posterity. 

They were called Hebrews, as is commonly supposed, from Eber or 
Heber, an ancestor of Abraham ; Israelites, from Jacob, who was surnamed 
Israel ; and Jews, from Judah, one of the twelve sons of Jacob, the head 
or patriarch of the principal of the Twelve Tribes. 

Jacob, with his sons and their families, consisting of 70 persons, mi- 
grated from Canaan to Egypt, 1706 B. C, and their posterity were, in 
that country, reduced to slavery. After a residence, according to Calmet, 
of 215 years, they were liberated from Egyptian bondage by Moses, the 
great Hebrew Lawgiver. 

After wandering 40 years in the wilderness, they took possession of 
Canaan, under the direction of Joshua. 

From the entrance into Canaan to the commencement of the reign of 
Saul, a period of 356 years, they were governed by a succession of Judges. 
— A view of the succession of the Kings of Israel and Judah, during the 
continuance of the monarchies, is given in the Tables I. and II. on the 
following pages. 

The most flourishing period of the Israelitish monarchy was during the 
reigns of David and Solomon. 

The sceptre of Judah descended regularly, except during the usur- 
pation of Athaliah, from father to son, in the family of David, till the 
death of Josiah, three of whose sons were, for a short time, raised to the 
throne. 

During nearly all the period of the Old Testament history of the 
Israelites, the nation manifested a strong tendency to forsake the worship 
of the true God, and to fall into idolatry. Many of the kings of Judah, 
and all the kings of the Ten Tribes, were promoters of idolatrous worship. 

The history of the Ten Tribes, subsequent to their captivity by Shal- 
maneser, is buried in utter obscurity. The Jews, or subjects of the king- 
dom of Judah, after the 70 years' Babylonish captivity, returned, 536 B. C, 
by permission of Cyrus, under Zerubbabel then* governor, and rebuilt Jeru- 
salem and the Temple. 

After this period, they were subject successively to the Persians, the 
Ptolemies of Egypt, the Syrians, and the Maccabees, till 63 B. C, when they 
were subjected to the Romans by Pompey. A D. 70, Jerusalem was taken 
and destroyed by the Romans, under Titus, and, since that event, the Jews 
have been dispersed in all parts of the world. 



344 



SACRED HISTORY. 



B. C. 

1100 

95 


Chronological Table of Kingdoms or Israel and Judah. 


Kings. 


40 


Kingdom of Israel : 3 Kings : 120 Years. 


Prophets. 
Samuel 


Saul 


The son of Kish, the first king of Is- 








rael ; is engaged in war with the 










Philistines, Amalekites, &c. ; perse- 










cutes David, who is anointed by 










Samuel in his stead ; Saul and Jona- 










than slain by the Philistines. 




55 


David 


40 


The son of Jesse, of the tribe of Judah ; 
is first proclaimed king of Judah, af- 
terwards of all Israel ; makes Jeru- 
salem the seat of his kingdom ; sub- 
dues the Philistines, Edomites, Ama- 
lekites, Moabites, &c. 


Nathan 
Gad 


14 


Solomon 


40 


Celebrated for wisdom ; has a pacific, 
prosperous reign; builds the Temple. 

After the death of Solomon, ten Tribes 
revolt from his son Rehoboam, and 
two separate kingdoms are formed, 
Judah and Israel. 




1000 

75 




17 


Kingdom op Judah : 19 Kings : 387 Years. 


Ahijah 


Rehoboam 


Revolt of the Ten Tribes. 


Iddo 


58 


Abijah 


3 


Gains a great victory over Jeroboam. 


Shemaiah 


55 


Asa 


41 


A religious king ; suppresses idola- 
try ; has a prosperous reign. 


Azariah 


14 


Jelioshaphat 


25 


A religious king ; a prosperous reign ; 


Micaiah 


900 

89 




"I 


joins Ahab in a war against Syria. 


Elijah 


Jehoram 


An idolater ; slays his six brothers. 




85 


Ahaziah 


1 


Is slain by Jehu. 


Elisha 


84 


(Athaliah) 


6 


Usurps ; slays all the royal family. 




78 


Joasb. (or 


40 


Jehoash) defeated by the Syrians. 


Jehoiada 


39 


Amaziah 


29 


Defeats the Edomites ; is defeated 
by Joash ; is slain in a conspiracy. 


Zachariah 


10 


Uzziah 


52 


Defeats the Philistines and Arabians ; 


Jonah 


800 

58 




16 


is smitten with leprosy. 


Amos 


Jotham 


Has a prosperous reign. 


Oded 


42 


Ahaz 


16 


Defeated by Pekah with great loss. 


Hosea 


26 


Hezekiab 


28 


An excellent king ; has a prosperous 


Micah 


700 

98 






reign. — Sennacherib's repulse. 


Nahum 


Manasseh 


55 


An impious king ; is carried by Esar- 


Isaiah 








haddon in chains to Babylon. 


Joel 


43 


Amon 


2 


An idolatrous king ; is murdered. 




41 


Josiah 


31 


An excellent king; great reform ; slain. 


Zephaniah 


9 


Jehoahaz (or 


* 


Shallum) ; carried captive into Egypt. 


Habakkuk 


9 


Jehoiakim (or 


11 


Eliakim) ; is carried in chains to 




600 

98 




1 


Babylon. 




Jehoiachin (or 


Jeconiah) ; is carried to Babylon. 


Obadiah 


98 


Zedekiah 


11 


The king and the nation carried cap- 
tive to Babylon. The city and tem- 
ple destroyed bv Nebuchadnezzar, 
588 B. C. 


Jeremiah 
Ezekiel 
Daniel 
Haggai 








The captivity lasted 70 years, from 606 
B. C. to 1st year of Cyrus, 536 B. C. 


Zechariah 



Malachi, the last of the Old Testament prophets, lived after the rebuilding of the Temple. 

The political condition of the Jews from the time of Zerubbabel, the first governor after 
the return from captivity, was very variable. Jerusalem was taken by a Roman army 
under Pompey, 63 B. C, and Judea was afterwards reduced to a Roman province. 



SACRED HISTORY. 



345 



Chronological Table of the Kingdom of Israel, or the 
Ten Tribes : — 19 Kings : — 254 Years. 



B. C. 

1000 



900 



800 



75 



39 



Kings. 



Jeroboam I. 



Nadab 

Baasha 

Elah 
Zimri 

Omri 

Ahab 



Ahaziah 
Jehoram 

Jehu 



Jehoahaz 
Joash 

Jeroboam II, 



Zechariah 

Shallum 

Menahem 

Pekaiah 

Pekah 



Hoshea 



SK- Si 

V ID 



21 



1 

24 



12 
21 



1 
12 

28 



17 
14 

41 



10 

2 

20 



18 



Son of Nebat, becomes king of the Ten Tribes; 
resides first at Shechem, afterwards at Tir- 
zah; institutes the worship of golden calves, 
one at Bethel and another at Dan, and se- 
duces the people to idolatry ; overcome by 
Abijah, and 500,000 Israelites slain. 

Son of Jeroboam ; slain by Baasha. 

Usurps the throne, and destroys all the fam- 
ily of Jeroboam ; at war with Asa. 

Son of Baasha ; is slain by Zimri. 

Usurps the throne; destroys the race of Baasha; 
after a reign of 7 days is overcome by Omri. 

Pounds Samaria, and makes it the capital. 

Son of Omri ; notorious for impiety, as well as 
his queen Jezebel ; seizes the vineyard of Net- 
both ; wars against Ramoth Gilead ; is slain. 



Son of Ahab ; wounded by a fall, and dies. 

Samaria besieged by Benhadad, king of Sy- 
ria; the inhabitants in great distress. 

Destroys Jezebel and all the family of Ahab, 
and the priests of Baal, but maintains the 
worship of Jeroboam's golden calves. 

Oppressed by Hazael, king of Syria. 

Defeats Benhadad II., king of Syria; also 
Amaziah ; takes Jerusalem. 

A warlike sovereign ; has a prosperous reign. 



After this reign the kingdom hastens to its 
downfall ; and its subsequent history is re- 
plete with treason, disorder, and misrule. 

An Interregnum of 1 1 years. 

Is slain by Shallum, who usurps the throne. 

After a reign of 1 month is killed by Menahem. 

Becomes tributary to Pul, king of Assyria. 

Is murdered by Pekah, one of his captains. 

Unites with Rezin, king of Syria, and besieg- 
es Jerusalem; defeats Ahaz, slays 120,000 
men, and takes 200,000 ; is overthrown by 
Tiglathpileser, who carries a part of the 
Israelites to Syria : slain by Hoshea. 

Becomes tributary to Shalmaneser, king of 
Assyria, but applies to So, king of Egypt, 
and revolts. Shalmaneser besieges, takes, 
and demolishes Samaria, carries the Israel- 
ites captive into Assyria and Media, and 
puts an end to the kingdom, B. C. 721. 



The subsequent history of the Ten Tribes is buried in obscurity. The country was 
afterwards repeopled by colonies from Assyria, whose descendants adopted the Law of 
Moses as contained in the Pentateuch, which they regarded as the only inspired book ; 
and they were called Samaritans, from the chief city of the country. The Samaritans 
built a temple on Mount Gcrizim. They were always at variance with the Jews, by 
whom they were despised and hated as heretics. 



346 



ERAS IN MODERN HISTORY. 



A. D. 

800 

9th 

900 

lOt/i 

1000 

nth 

1100 

12th 

1200 



Eras in Modern History. 



2 

12 

27 
58 
70 

14 
4G 
47 

58 

53 

55 
7!) 
86 
92 
97 

17 

21 
22 

16th 

60 

7'.) 
82 

0^ 

7 
12 
48 
49 



13//* 



1300 



14**;* 



1400 



15 th 



1500 



New Empire of the West under Charlemagne formed. 
The Kingdom of England beg ins. The Saxon Heptarchy ends. 
The - Normans under Rollo take possession of Normandy. 

Otho the Great, em peror of Germany, conquers Italy. 

William the Conqueror (battle of Hastings) conquers England. 
FIRST CRUSADE to the Holy Land : Peter the Hermit. 



Second Crusade, excited by St. Bernard 
Third Crusade, under Richard I. of England and Philip Au- 
gustus of Erancc. 



Fourth Crusade, under Baldwin, who takes Constantinople. 
Magna Charta signed by King John of England. 
Gengiiis-Kiian, emperor of the Moguls, overruns the Saracen 
End of the Caliphate of Bagdad. [empire. 
Last Crusade, under St. Louis IX. of France. 



Robert Bruce defeats Edward II. of England at Bannockburn. 
Edward III. of England gains the battle of Cressy. 
Great Plague in Europe ; said to carry off { of the inhabitants. 
Timur Bek or Tamerlane commences his reign and conquests. 



TURKS take Constantinople; end of the Eastern Roman Empire. 
The York and Lancaster War begins in England ; lasts 30 years. 
Arragon and Castile united, forming the kingdom of Spain. 
The Cape of Good Hope discovered by Bartholomew Diaz. 
AMERICA discovered by Columbus. 
Vasco de Gama reaches India by way of the Cape of Good Hope. 



Reformation by Luther. — 1519. CharlesV. emp. of Germany. 

Mexico conquered by Cortes. 

The Globe first circumnavigated by Magellan's squadron : by 

Drake in 1580. 
The Civil Wars in France begin, conducted by Cond6 and Guise. 
The Republic of Holland begins by the union of Utrecht. 
The Calendar reformed by Pope Gregory XIII. 



17 th 



1700 ^ 

48 
52 
63 
76 
189 



18*-/* 



Union of the crowns of England and Scotland. 

First English settlement in America, at Jamestown, Virginia. 

First English establishment in Hindostan. 

Peace of Westphalia or Munster : end of the 30 Years' War. 

Charles' I. of England beheaded : the Commonwealth begins. 

Revolution in England ; abdication of James II. 



1800 



19th 



Peace of Utrecht between France and the Allies. 

Peace of Aix-la-Chapelle ; end of the war of the Austrian Suc- 

New Style introduced into England. [cession. 

Peace of Paris ; Canada ceded by France to England. 

The INDEPENDENCE of the United States declared. 

The FRENCH REVOLUTION ; — completed in 1792-93. 



Peace of Amiens, between England, France, Spain, and Holland. 
NAPOLEON BONAPARTE emperor of France. 
End of the German Empire. 

War between the U. States and England begins: ends in 1814. 
The Battle of WATERLOO; the empire of Bonaparte over- 
thrown ; Congress of European sovereigns at Vienna. 
Peace of Adrianople between Russia and Turkey. 
New Revolution in France ; Charles X. dethroned. 
The Reform Bill passes the British Parliament. 
Act for the abolition of Slavery in the British Colonies. 
New Revolution in France ; Louis Philippe dethroned ; the mon- 
archy overthrown, and a Republican Government established. 



TABLE OF INVENTIONS. 



347 



A. D. 

900 

10th 

1000 

nth 

1100 

12th 

1200 

13th, 



Chronological Table of Inventions. 



1300 



lith 



1400 



15th 



1500 



16th 



1600 



nth 



1700 



mh 



1800 



19* A 



2 
20 
42 
50 

90 

To 

40 
G4 
71 

77 
89 

30 

32 

45 
82 
80 
90 

To 

14 
19 

30 
41 
43 

54 
55 
59 

87 

2l 
25 
52 
69 

81 
94 

98 
98 



The Figures of Arithmetic brought into Europe by the Saracens 
Clocks with toothed wheels invented in France by Gerbert. 



Paper made of cotton rags in use. 
Surnames begin to be used by the nobility. 



The Pandects of Roman Law discovered at Amalfi. 
The first regular Bank at Venice. 



Linen first made in England. 

Glass Mirrors and Magnifying- Glasses invented by R. Bacon, 
to 131 1. Spectacles invented by Bacon, Salvinus,Armatus & Spina 
Tallow Candles begin to be used. 



Chimneys and Glass Windows begin to be used in private houses. 

The Mariner's Compass improved by Flavio Gioia. 

to 40. GUNPOWDER invented at Cologne by Swartz. 

Cannon used at the siege of Algeziras : Muskets in use in 1370. 

Clocks in use : first made in England in 1568. 

Playing- Cards invented: first Paper-Mill in Germany. 



Painting in oil-colors invented at Bruges by Van Eyck. 
Art of PRINTING invented by Coster, Guttenberg, &c. 
Post-Offices established in France : in England in 1581. 
Printing introduced into England by William Caxton. 
Watches made at Nuremberg : in use in England in 1597. 
Maps and Cliarts brought into England by Barthol. Columbus. 



The Spinning- Wheel invented at Brunswick by Jurgen. 

The true SOLAR SYSTEM revived by Copernicus. 

Needles first made in England. 

First treatise on Decimal Arithmetic published at Bruges. 

Potatoes introduced into England from America. 

to 1620. The Telescope, by Porta, Jansen, Drebell, and Galileo. 



The Thermometer invented by Sanctorius, Drebell, and Galileo 

Logarithms invented in Scotland by Napier. 

The Circulation of the Blood discovered by Harvey. 

The first Gazette or Newspaper at Venice : in England in 1665. 

Coffee first brought into England : Tea in 1666. 

The Barometer invented by Torricelli and Pascal. 

The Air-Pump invented at Magdeburg by Guericke. 

The Steam-Engine invented : improved by Watt in 1768. 

Saturn's Ring discovered by Huyghens. 

The Newtonian Philosophy published in England. 



Inoculation introduced into England from Turkey. 

Stereotype Printing invented by Ged ; introduced by Didot, 1799 

The identity of Lightning and Electricity ascertained by Franklin, 

The Spinning-Jenny invented by Arkwright. 

The planet Uranus or Herschel discovered by Herschel. 

The Cotton- Gin invented by Whitney. 

VACCINATION discovered and introduced by Dr. Jenner. 

Galvanism discovered by Galvani. 

Lithography invented at Munich by Sennefelder. 



The first STEAMBOAT on the Hudson. 
16JThe Safety-Lamp invented by Sir Humphrey Davy. 
30 1 The Liverpool and Manchester Railroad opened; the first on 

which locomotive steam-carriages were used. 
38^116 Great Western, Steamship, makes her first voyage, crossing 

the Atlantic, from Bristol, England, to New York. 
42 The use of the Electric Telegraph introduced. 
46 The use of Ether in surgical operations introduced. 



QUESTIONS. 



N. B. The numbers prefixed to the following Questions correspond to the paragraphs 
m the Volume ; so that the student will readily see where to seek for every answer. It 
will be perceived that, in many instances, the answers to three or four questions are to 
be found in one paragraph. 



USES OF HISTORY. 

1. What is history ? What is said of the study of it ? 

2. What is said of history, compared with novels and romances ? 

3 On what is the general taste for history founded l What view does 
it afford of human nature ? 

4. What is a higher use of history ? What has it heen styled ? What 
does it add to our own experience ? 

5. With what does it make us acquainted 1 From what does it serve to 
free the mind 1 

6. To what class of persons is history indispensable 1 Of what do we 
gain a knowledge by history ? 

7 . What further does history show and teach us ? 

8. What influence has it on the character? How does it make virtue 
appear, — and vice ? What does the reader of history learn to connect 
with true glory ? 

9. What does history teach us has been often done under the direction 
of Providence ? 

10. Why does a knowledge of history tend to render us contented with 
our condition in life ? 



THE SOURCES OF HISTORY. 

1 . What is the first source of history 1 Who derived his history chiefly 
from this source ? 

2. What is the second source ? What instances are mentioned ? 

3. What is the third source? 4. The fourth? 5. The fifth? 6. The 
sixth ? To what century do the most ancient coins that have been found 
belong ? 

7. What is the seventh source of history ? What is the most celebrated 
collection of marbles of this kind ? 

8. What is the most important of these inscriptions ? What is said of it ? 

9. What is said of hieroglyphics, paintings, and sculptures ? 

DIVISIONS OF HISTORY. 

1 . How is history divided with respect to time ? 

2. What is Ancient History ? Modern History ? 

3. What other eras do some historians adopt for the dividing points ? 

4. What is a third division of history ? What does this period comprise ? 

30 



350 EGYPT. — THE PHOENICIANS. 

5. What is said further of the Middle Ages ? 

6. By what is Ancient History distinguished ? 

7. By what are the Middle Ages characterized 1 By what has the last 
half century been characterized 1 

8. By what is Modern History distinguished 1 

9. How is history divided with regard to subject ? 

10. What is Sacred History 1 ? Profane History"? Ecclesiastical His- 
tory ? Civil History 1 

11. How far back does Sacred History go, and what was the length of 
time from the creation to the Christian era 1 

12. What is said of Geology ? 

13. Who is the earliest profane historian ? When did he write, and of 
wbat nations 1 

14. What is said of the history of the world before the time when the 
history of Herodotus begins ? 

15. What is said of our knowledge of the early history of the world ? 
What is the only source of this information 1 

16. What are some of the most remarkable events respecting the early 
history of the world recorded in the Bible ? 

17. What are the most important portions of profane history 1 

18. What is said of the history of the Middle or Dark Ages ? 

19. What portions of history are the best known 1 



EGYPT. 

1 . Why does Egypt hold a conspicuous place in history 1 What nation 
derived its information chiefly from it ? 

2. What is said of the ancient history of Egypt 1 

3. What are some of the works of ancient grandeur? 

4. What is said of the glory of Thebes ? 

5. What city supplanted Thebes ? What is said of the description 
given of Thebes by Strabo and Diodorus 1 

6. How was the place of alphabetic writing supplied ? 

7. What is said of the researches of Champollion and other learned men ? 

8. What is said of the inhabitants of Egypt ? 

9. What of the government and the kings 1 

10. What is said of the laws and customs ? 

11. To what was every person subject after his death 1 

12. What is said of the armies and weapons of the Egyptians ? 

13. Who was the first king that is kuown ? What is said of his suc- 
cessors ? 

14. Who was the most distinguished king 1 

15. What other kings are mentioned ? 

16. Who is the next distinguished sovereign ? What is said of him 2 

17. Who conquered Egypt, 525 B. C. ? In what manner? 

18. By whom was it wrested from Persia % What was its situation after 
the death of Alexander ? 



THE PHOENICIANS. 

1. What is said of the Phoenicians and their history ? 

2. What are they styled in the Scriptures, and what were their chief 
cities ? 

3. Of what were they the reputed inventors ? 

4. To what places did they send colonies ? By whom did Tyre suffer 
memorable sieges ? 



ASSYRIA AND BABYLON. — GREECE. 351 



ASSYRIA AND BABYLON. 

1. What is said of Assyria? Who founded Babylon? What is said 
of their history ? 

2. What is commonly supposed respecting Assyria and Babylon ? What 
is the opinion of Dr. Gillies ? 

3. What is said of Ninus and Semiramis ? 

4. How is Ninus represented ? How is Semiramis described ? 

5. What is said of the history of the empire from the time of Ninyas to 
Sardanapalus ? 

6. What is said of Sardanapalus ? Who excited a rebellion against 
him? 

7. What took place with regard to the empire ? 

8. Who were the four successors of Pul ? 

9. Who put an end to the Assyrian monarchy ? 

10. By whom was Nabopolassar or Nebuchadnezzar succeeded ? 

11. What took place during the reign of Belshazzar ? 

12. What is said of Babylon after the conquest? What is its present 
state ? 

13. What is said of Nineveh? What has lately been discovered on its 
site? 

PERSIA. 

1 . What is said of Persia ? What is the state of its history prior to the 
reign of Cyrus ? What was it originally called ? Who was the founder 
of the great Persian empire ? What countries did it comprise ? 

2. To whom are we indebted for the history of Persia ? What is said 
of the Persian historians ? Which are entitled to most credit ? 

3. What is said of Cyrus ? What did he perform ? 

4. What ancients have written accounts of Cyrus ? Who have followed 
Xenophon ? What was Xenophon's supposed design ? 

5. What is said of Cambyses ? Of Smerdis ? Darius ? 

6. Who succeeded Darius ? What is said of him ? To Avhom did he 
leave the empire ? 

7. Who were the other two principal sovereigns ? 

8. When did Cyrus begin to reign? Darius Hystaspes ? Darius 
Codomanus ? 

GREECE. 
Section I. 

1. What was the extent of Greece ? How was it bounded ? What is 
its general aspect ? 

2. What is said of this country ? Eor what were the inhabitants re- 
nowned ? 

3. What did Greece comprise? How did these states differ? How 
were they united ? 

4. What was the form of government in the early ages ? What form 
afterwards prevailed ? 

5. What is said of the history of these republics ? Why does their his- 
tory excite interest ? 

6. What were Greece and the inhabitants called by the natives ? What 
do the poets style the Greeks ? From whom were the original inhabitants 
descended ? 

7. Who brought to Greece the first rudiments of civilization ? 



352 GREECE. 



Section II. 

1 . Into how many general periods may the history of Greece be distin- 
guished 1 What is the first ? What the second 1 

2. How many years does the first period comprise ? What is said of it ? 

3. Into how many subdivisions may this period be distinguished ? 
When does the first period begin and end, and what may it be termed ? 
The second ? The third ? The fourth 1 

4. What does the second general division (the period of authentic his 
tory) comprise ? What is said of its history 1 

5. Into how many parts may this period be divided? When does the 
first begin and end, and what is said of it 1 The second 1 The third 1 
The fourth ? 

Section III. 

1 . What does the fabulous age comprise 1 

2. By whom was Si^yon founded 1 Argos '? Athens ? Thebes ? 
Corinth ? Mycenae 1 Lacedasmon ? 

3. What are some of the memorable events of this period ? What else 
does it embrace ? 

4. What was the first great enterprise recorded of the Greeks 1 By 
whom was it commanded ? Who were some of the heroes who accompa- 
nied Jason % 

5. Why were they called Argonauts 1 What was their object ? What 
is said of the fleece ? 

Section IV. 

1. To what has the heroic age been compared ? What difference is 
mentioned between the Greeks and the Gothic nations ? 

2. On whose authority does the history of the Trojan war rest ? What 
is said of the Iliad 1 

3. What is said of Helen ? To what oath did her father bind her 
suitors ? Who was the favored individual % 

4. What is said of Paris ? What did he do on visiting Sparta ? 

5. What was the effect of this treachery 1 How many vessels and men 
were conveyed to the Trojan coast? Who was chosen commander-in- 
chief 1 Who were some of the other most celebrated princes 1 

6. By whom were the Trojans commanded 1 What was the final result 
of the siege 1 

7. When did the return of the Heraclidas take place 1 

8. What is said of Hercules 1 How long was it after his banishment 
when his descendants returned ? What was the consequence of it ? 

9. What was the effect of this revolution 1 

Section V. 

1. What were the two leading states of Greece, and how were they dis- 
tinguished ? How were their different characters formed ? 

2. Of what was Sparta the capital 1 How was the government ad- 
ministered 1 

3. Who was Lycurgus 1 With what duty was he intrusted 1 

4. What did he accomplish ? What senate did he institute ? What did 
he do respecting the two kings ? How did he divide the territory ? 

5. What measure did he take respecting commerce, &c. ? How did the 
citizens take their food ? 

6. What was the situation of every citizen ? What was the regulation 
respecting infants ? 

7. What was the fact respecting letters 1 How were the Spartans dis- 
tinguished ? For what were they noted ? 



GREECE. 353 

8. What were the young especially taught 1 What further regulations 
were made respecting them ? 

9. What were the institutions of Lycurgus adapted to form ? What 
was considered the great business of life ? What virtues were cherished, 
and what were sacrificed 1 

10. What is said of the women ? What was their education calculated 
to give them ? What charge did a mother give her son 1 

11. How long did the institutions of Lycurgus continue in force'? 
What is said of the power and influence of Sparta 1 

12. What took place in process of time ? How were changes introduced ? 

Section VI. 

1. What is said of Athens 1 For what is it distinguished 1 

2. Who was the last king of Athens 1 What took place after his death 1 
What is said of the office of the archons ? 

3. By whom was the first code of written laws prepared for Athens 1 
What is said of these laws 1 What reason did Draco give for the severity 
of his punishments ? 

4. Who afterwards framed a new system of laws 1 What did Solon 
attempt to do 1 What did he say of his laws ? 

5. In whom did he vest the supreme power 1 ? What was done by this 
assembly 1 Of what number did the senate consist 1 

6. What did he encourage ? What further is said respecting his laws ? 

7. What effects did the different laws of Athens and Sparta produce 1 
What were the differences at the two cities 1 How were an Athenian and 
a Spartan characterized 1 

8. What happened before the death of Solon 1 How long did Pisistratus 
and his sons continue in power I What is said of his government ? 

9". To whom did Pisistratus transmit the sovereignty i By whom were 
they dethroned 1 What was their fate ? 

Section VII. 

1 . What period is esteemed the most glorious age of Greece 1 What is 
said of the victories of the inhabitants over the Persians 1 

2. What was the state of Persia at this period"? What colonies and 
countries were subject to it 1 

3. What gave offence to Darius 1 What did he resolve to do ? 

4. What step did Darius first take ? How were his heralds received 1 

5. How did Darius begin his hostile attack 1 What was the fate of the 
first Persian fleet % What was done by a second fleet ? How numerous 
was the army that invaded Attica 1 By whom was it commanded 1 

6. Where and by whom was this host met 1 What was the loss on 
each side? 

7. How was the merit of Miltiades repaid 1 What happened to him ? 

8. What were the parties into winch the Athenians were divided ? Who 
were the two leaders ? 

9. What is said of Aristides 1 What happened while the people were 
giving their votes for his exile 1 What did Aristides do ? 

10. What caused a discontinuance of the Persian war 1 By whom was 
it renewed 1 How large an army is Xerxes said to have collected ? 

11. Of what did his fleet consist? What canal and bridges were 
formed \ 

12. Why did Xerxes shed tears on viewing the vast assemblage ? 

13. What course was taken by the Persians % Who was leader of 
Athens 1 What states took part with Athens ? 

14. What did Leonidas undertake 1 What reply did he give to the 

30* 



354 GREECE. 

herald of Xerxes, who commanded him to deliver up his arms ? What 
followed ? 

15. What course did Leonidas take? What was the result? What 
inscription was written on the monument erected on the spot ? 

16. What did the Persians now do? What course did the Athenians 
take ? 

17. For what were preparations now made ? Of what did the two fleets 
consist ? Who commanded the Grecian fleet ? Where did the engage- 
ment take place ? What was the issue ? 

18. Who was left by Xerxes to complete the conquest of Greece ? 
Where and by whom was this army met ? What was the issue ? 

19. What took place on the same day of the victory of Platasa ? What 
happened to Xerxes ? 

20. What course did the Greeks pursue ? By whom were the Spartans 
and Athenians commanded ? What did they accomplish ? 

21. What is related of Pausanias ? 

22. What is related of Themistocles ? 

23. Who took the direction of affairs in Athens after the banishment of 
Themistocles ? 

24. What victories did Cimon gain ? 

25. What afterwards happened to Cimon ? Who succeeded him ? 

26. What further is related of Cimon ? 

27. How long did the Persian war last ? What were the conditions of 
peace ? 

28. What took place after the death of Cimon ? 

29. What is said of the government of Pericles ? 

30. What is said of the time of the Persian war ? What took place 
after the war with Persia ? What is related of Athens and Sparta ? 

31. What was the effect of the war on the Athenians ? By what means 
did they reach the summit of political influence and military power ? 

32. On what did the politics of Greece, after this, turn ? What is said 
of Athens and Sparta, and how did they differ ? 

33. What took place from this period ? What was the effect of an ac- 
quaintance with Asia ? How was this luxurious spirit directed by the 
Athenians ? 

Section VIII. 

1 . What was the origin of the Peloponnesian war ? 

2. What is said of this war ? How was it carried on ? 

3. Of what were the Athenians accused ? 

4. What state took the lead ? By what states was she joined ? What 
allies had Athens ? What did the forces of each amount to ? 

5. What was done in the first year of the war ? What took place in the 
second year ? Was the war arrested by the plague ? 

6. Who governed Athens after the death of Pericles ? What is said of 
Cleon ? What happened after his death ? 

7 . What is said of Alcibiades ? 

8. Who commanded the expedition against Sicily? What was the 
issue of it ? 

9. What is said of Lysander ? What was next done by the Lacedae- 
monians ? 

10. On what conditions were the Athenians spared ? How did the Pe- 
loponnesian war terminate ? 

11. What did Lysander do after the reduction of Athens ? How many 
citizens did the thirty tyrants sacrifice in the space of six months ? What 
was done by Thrasybulus ? 

12. What is said of pure democracy at Athens ? How were the Athe- 
nians characterized ? 



GREECE. 355 

13. Who is at once the glory and the reproach of Athens 1 What is 
said of this philosopher ? 

14. What is related of him during his imprisonment ? 

15. What is said of the philosophy of Socrates ? What did he do 
respecting philosophy ? 

16. In what contest were upwards of 10,000 Greek mercenaries em- 
ployed % Who commanded the Greeks in their retreat 1 

17. What is said of this retreat ? 

18. How did the Spartans become involved in the war? What did 
the king of Persia effect by means of bribes ? What course did Agesilaus 
take? 

19. How was the war ended ? What were the conditions of peace ? 

20. What state now rose into importance ? What was done by the 
Spartans ? By whom was the citadel recovered ? 

21. What then ensued? What were the losses of each in the battle of 
Leuctra ? 

22. What was then done by the Thebans ? How long had it been since 
the country of Laconia had been ravaged 1 

23. What course did the Theban commander then take? What other 
victory did he gain ? 

24. What is said of Epaminondas ? 

25. By what was the battle of Mantinea followed ? In what did the 
Spartans next engage ? What was the issue ? 

Section IX. 

1. What is said of the history of Greece _after the death of Agesilaus ? 
What was the situation of the Grecian affairs ? 

2. What is said of Athens at this time ? What of Sparta ? What 
project did Philip form ? 

3. What is said of the kingdom of Macedon ? Who were the inhabit- 
ants ? 

4. What is said of the Macedonian empire ? Why is it sometimes 
called the Grecian empire ? 

5. Under whom was Philip educated ? What is further said of him ? 
What measures did he adopt to bring the states of Greece under his do- 
minion ? 

6. What was the cause of the Sacred War ? What states took part in 
the contest ? 

7. What course did Philip adopt ? What was he styled ? What course 
did the Athenians take ? 

8. What circumstance again drew Philip into Greece ? What was the 
occasion of it ? What states resisted Philip ? What was the result of the 
contest ? 

9. What measures did the conqueror adopt ? 

10. What did Philip next project ? What happened to him ? 

1 1. By whom was Philip succeeded ? What is said of Alexander ? 

12. What was done by Demosthenes? What course did Alexander 
take ? What was the fate of the Thebans ? What was the effect of these 
acts ? 

13. What were Alexander's next measures ? Who were his companions 
in arms ? 

14. With what force did he cross the Hellespont ? To what place did 
he first proceed ? What did he say respecting Achilles ? 

15. Where did the Persian satraps meet him ? What were the losses 
on each side in the battle of the Granicus ? What is here mentioned re- 
specting Alexander ? 

16. What were the consequences of this victory ? 



356 GREECE. 

17. What battle was fought in the next spring 3 What was the number 
of the Persian army % What were the losses ? Where did the engage- 
ment take place ? 

18. Who fell into the hands of the conqueror 1 What offer did Darius 
make Alexander, in consequence of his generous conduct ? 

19. What did Parmenio say of the offer ? What was Alexander's re- 
ply 1 What answer did he return to the proposal 1 

20. What was his next course? What was the consequence of the 
Tyrians refusing his demand 1 What piece of cruelty did he exercise % 

21. What was his next exploit 1 

22. Whither did he then proceed ? What did he accomplish 1 What 
city did he found 1 

23. What proposal did he receive from Darius on his return 1 What 
answer did he return ? 

24. With how large an army did he cross the Euphrates 1 What losses 
were sustained in the battle that followed 1 Where was this battle fought, 
and what is it called ? 

25. What was the consequence of this battle 1 What has since been 
the fact with regard to Europe % What happened to Darius and the em- 
pire'? 

26. What was Alexander's next procedure 1 What course did his 
aoldiers take ? 

27. To what city did Alexander then march his army ? What did he 
do here 1 Where and in what manner did he die 1 

28. What is said of Alexander and his course 1 

29. What is said of his abilities and traits of character "? 

30. For what was he distinguished in the early part of his career? 
What afterwards" took place % 

31. Of what acts of ingratitude and injustice was he guilty ? 

32. What does his history show 1 

Section X. , 

1 . What did Alexander do respecting a successor ? By what was his 
death followed 1 

2. Who was appointed by his generals ? How was the empire divided 1 
What followed 1 What was the new division after the battle of Ipsus ? 

3. What was the end of the kingdoms of Thrace and Macedonia ? 
What is said of Syria and Egypt % 

4. What was done by the Grecian states during Alexander's conquests ? 

5. What effect did the news of Alexander's death have at Athens 1 
By whom was Demosthenes opposed % What was the language of 
Phocion 1 

6. How far did the counsels of Demosthenes prevail? What was the 
fate of Demosthenes ? 

7. By whom was Antipater succeeded ? What took place at Athens ? 
What is related of Phocion 1 

8 By whom was Polysperchon succeeded ? What is said of the gov- 
ernment of Demetrius Phalcreus ? 

9. What was the state of Athens afterwards ? 

10. What was the condition of the Grecian states from this period 1 By 
whom was the country ravaged 1 

11. Who next invaded Peloponnesus 1 What happened to him ? 

12. By what confederacy was the last effort made in favor of Greece 1 
To whom was the government of this confederacy committed ? What de- 
sign did he form ? 

13. By whom was Aratus succeeded 1 What is said of him ? 

14. What is related of the Romans ? What was accomplished by their 



GREECE. 357 

army under Quintius Plaminius ? What took place nearly thirty years 
afterwards ? 

15. What part did the Romans take, with respect to the Achaean league ? 
Wlio sought the assistance of the Romans ? What was done by Metellus ? 
What afterwards took place ? 

16. What is said of Greece after she became subject to the Romans ? 
Where were the most distinguished Romans educated ? 

17. What do we see in reviewing the history of the Greeks ? In what 
were they unrivalled ? 

18. What circumstance must impress the readers of the history of 
Athens ? Who were victims of this injustice ? What was done respecting 
them ? 

19. What is said respecting the supposed virtuous age of Greece ? 
What is said of the morality of the Greeks ? 

20. What is stated by Mitford ? 

21. How were the earlier times characterized 1 How was it in a later 
age ? What had the history of the world demonstrated ? 

Section XI. — Grecian Antiquities. 

Among whom did the most of the ancient sects of philosophy have their 
origin ? When did Grecian literature flourish most ? 

What is said of the Ionic sect? The Italian or Pythagorean sect? 
The Socratic School ? The Cynics ? The Academic sect ? The Peri- 
patetic sect ? The Sceptical sect ? The Stoic sect ? The Epicureans ? 

What does Tytler say respecting the Greek philosophy ? What course 
did its teachers pursue ? 

Who were most illustrious Grecian poets ? 



Who were famous statuaries ? Painters ? Historians ? 



Who were the seven wise men of Greece ? 



By whom is the council of the Amphictyons supposed to have been in- 
stituted ? Of what was it composed ? Of how many deputies did it 
consist ? When and where did they meet ? 

What were the objects of this assembly ? 

On what occasions were the Greeks in the habit of consulting oracles ? 
What were their most celebrated oracles ? 

What were the four public games in Greece? What exercises were 
practised at these games ? 

What is said of running, leaping, and boxing ? 

In honor of whom were the Olympic games instituted ? Where and 
when were they celebrated? What did they draw together? What 
preparation was required ? 

What oath were the contenders obliged to take ? What was the prize 
bestowed on the victor ? What is said of it ? How was the victor treated ? 

How did the Greeks compute their time ? 

What is said of the Pythian games ? With what were the victors 
crowned ? 

Where and how often were the Nemean games celebrated ? With what 
were the victors crowned ? 

Why were the Isthmian games so called ? What is said of them ? 
What was the reward of the victors ? 



358 GREECE. 

Into what classes were the inhabitants of Athens divided ? 

Who were the citizens ? Into how many tribes were they divided 1 
What is said of the privilege of citizenship ? 

What was the condition of the sojourners 1 

What is said of the slaves or servants ? 

In what was the supreme executive power vested 1 What garlands did 
they wear ? What was the first of the nine called ? What was his office 1 
For what crime was he punished with death ? 

What were the duties of the second archon ? What did the third archon 
superintend 1 

What were the duties of six other archons ? 

Into what three sorts were the Athenian magistrates divided 1 

What rights had the poor citizens 1 What were the candidates for office 
obliged to do 1 To what were the magistrates liable while in office ? What 
were they obliged to do after their office had expired 1 

Of whom were the assemblies of the people composed 1 How often 
and where were they held ? 

Of how many citizens must the assembly consist, in order to transact 
business % How was the decision made 1 

How often Avas the senate elected, and of how many did it consist 1 
What were the duties of the senate ? 

Erom what was the name of Areopagus taken ? What is said of this 
court 1 Of what were the Areopagites guardians ? 

What is said of the ostracism ? Was it necessary that any crime should 
be alleged against the exile ? What is remarked of this institution ? 



Of what two classes did the inhabitants of Sparta consist ? 

Into what two classes were the citizens divided 1 

Which were the more numerous, the slaves or the freemen ? What did 
the slaves perform ? 

What were the two chief magistrates ? What were their duties 1 

Of what did the senate consist ? What was its authority 1 Who were 
admitted to this assembly 1 

What were the Ephori ? What was their duty 1 

What were the two public assemblies of Sparta ? When was the 
general assembly convened 1 When and for what purposes was the lesser 
assembly held ? 

Chronological Table or Grecian History. 

When did the first Olympiad begin 1 
When did Solon form his code of laws ? 
When did the Persian war begin ? The Peloponnesian war ? 
When did Alexander invade Persia 1 
When was the battle of Ipsus 1 Pydna % 
When was Greece reduced to a Roman province ? 
What are some of the events mentioned in the 8th century B, C. 1 
What in the 7th ? The 6th 1 &c. 

Chronological Taele of Grecian Literature. 

What statesmen and warriors flourished in the 7th century B. C. 1 The 
6th ? &c. 

What philosophers in the 6th century B. C. The 5th ? &c. 
What poets and artists in the 7th century B. C. 1 The 6th ? &c. 
What historians in the 5th century B.C.? The 4th 1 &c. 



SYRIA UNDER THE SELEUCID^E.— ROME. 359 



SYRIA UNDER THE SELEUCID^. 

1. Who obtained possession of the principal possessions of Alexander 
in Asia, after his death ? Who defeated Antigonus ? How long did the 
kingdom of Syria or Syro-Media last ? By what kings was it governed ? 

2. What is said of Selencus and his exploits ? What is said of 
Antioch ? 

3. What was the end of Seleucus ? By whom was he succeeded ? 

4. What is said of the reigns of Antiochus Theos and Seleucus Cal- 
linicus ? 

5. Who was one of the most distinguished of this race of sovereigns ? 
What is related of his reign ? 

6. By whom was Antiochus visited ? What did he undertake 1 By 
whom and where was he defeated ? 

7. Who were the next two kings ? What was done by the latter ? 
What did the Jews perform ? 

8. What is said of the succeeding reigns ? 

9. When did Seleucus I. begin to reign ? Antiochus the Great 1 Who 
was the last of the Seleucidse ? 



EGYPT UNDER THE PTOLEMIES. 

1. What is said of the prosperity of Egypt ? How long did the dynasty 
of the Ptolemies last ? 

2. Who was Ptolemy Lagus ? What is said of his history and his abilities ? 

3. What important public services did he perform 1 

4. By whom was Ptolemy Soter succeeded ? What is related of Ptol- 
emy Philadelphus ? What is said of his court ? What celebrated version 
was made during his reign ? 

5. What is said of Ptolemy Evergetes 1 With what did his reign com- 
mence ? What vow was made by his queen ? 

6. How was the hair regarded 1 What is said of that of Berenice ? 
What took place respecting it ? 

7. By whom was Ptolemy Evergetes succeeded 1 Eor what was his 
reign distinguished 1 What excited his resentment against the Jews ? 

8. What decree did he publish 1 What effect did it produce ? What 
did he then command ? What was the consequence 1 

9. What is said of the first three Ptolemies ? What of the others 1 

10. Why was Ptolemy Soter so named? Ptolemy Philadelphus? 
Ptolemy Evergetes ? Ptolemy Philopater ? Ptolemy Epiphanes ? &c. 

11. Who was the last of the Ptolemies ? Who was his queen ? With 
whom is her history connected ? What was the manner of her death ? 
What was the condition of Egypt afterwards ? 

12. What is related respecting the queens of the Ptolemies ? 

13. When did Ptolemy Lagus begin to reign? Who was the last of 
these sovereigns ? When did she die ? 



ROME. 
Section I. 

1. What state becomes the leading object of attention, after the conquest 
of Greece ? What is said of its rise and importance ? What is remarked 
of its history ? What is involved in its history ? 

2. What was its extent during its early history ? What change after- 
wards took place ? How long did the empire continue ? 



360 ROME. 

3. What is said of the early history of the Romans ? What reasons are 
there for supposing there must be a mixture of fiction 1 

4. How is the length of time comprised in the reigns of the seven kings 
regarded ? What happened to several of these kings ? What was the 
average length of their reigns % 

5. What is remarked respecting the histories of the early ages ? Of 
Romulus, of the seven kings, and eaily ages of the commonwealth ? 

6. What account do the poets give of .ZEneas ? How long was the suc- 
cession continued in his family ? 

7. Of whom was Rhea Sylvia the mother? What is related of the 
brothers ? What did Romulus do after he had built the city of Rome ? 

8. How is Romulus said to have divided the people ? Of how many 
members did the senate consist ? From whom were they chosen ? How 
did he attach the two classes to each other ? What duties did the patron 
and client perform to each other ? 

9. By what persons was the king attended ? 

10. Who was the second king of Rome ? Of what town was he a na- 
tive ? How is he represented ? What did he do ? 

11. Who was the third king? For what is his reign memorable? 
What was the issue of this combat ? 

12. Who was the fourth king ? What did he do ? 

13. Who was the successor of Ancus Martius ? What was done by him ? 

14. What is related of Servius Tullius ? What did he establish ? By 
what was the census closed ? 

15. What were the characters of the two daughters of Servius ? What 
measure did he take with regard to them, in order to secure the throne ? 
How did he attempt to correct their defects ? What was the issue ? 

16. How did Tarquin the Proud begin his reign ? What was the conse- 
quence ? What is related of Sextus ? What course did Lucretia take ? 

1 7 . What measures were taken to excite the indignation of the people 
against the Tarquins ? What was done with Tarquin ? 

Section II. 

1. What government was established instead of the regal authority? 
To whom did the supreme power belong ? What two new officers were 
chosen ? What is said of their power ? Who were the first consuls ? 

2. What measures were taken by Tarquin ? What partisans had he in 
Rome ? In what plot were the sons of Brutus concerned ? What course 
did Brutus take ? What remark is made by an ancient author upon his 
conduct ? 

3. What took place after the insurrection in the city was suppressed ? 
What notice was taken of the death of Brutus ? Who was the first that 
enjoyed the reward of a triumph ? 

4. What course did Valerius adopt to regain his popularity ? What 
was the effect of this law ? 

5. How long were the Romans involved in hostilities on account of 
Tarquin ? What was the most remarkable of these wars ? Who distin- 
guished themselves in it ? 

6. What other troubles were added to those of war ? What course did 
the plebeians take ? Why was the authority of the consuls of no avail ? 

7. What new magistrate was now created ? In what cases was he ap- 
pointed ? What was his authority ? Who was chosen dictator ? What 
was the issue ? What other occasion was there for a dictator ? 

8. What troubles followed after the return of peace ? What course did 
the plebeians adopt on an alarm of war ? What was their language ? 
What step did they at length take ? 

9. What was the consequence of this procedure ? What was done by 



ROME. 361 

Menenius Agrippa 1 "What was granted to the plebeians ? How often 
were tribunes elected, and what was their number'? What two other 
magistrates were appointed 1 

10. What did a neglect of agriculture occasion'? In what manner did 
Coriolanus excite the resentment of the people 1 What was the conse- 
quence 1 

11. What law was proposed that caused dissension? Who demanded 
such a division of the public lands 1 

12. What was the law which Volero caused to be enacted ? What was 
the effect of this law ? 

13. What is related of Cincinnatus 1 What did he do after his victories ? 

14. What was the fact respecting the laws of the Romans ? Who ad- 
ministered justice 1 What is said of their proceedings 1 What measures 
were taken to provide a code 1 

15. For what were the decemvirs appointed'? Of what statutes was 
this the origin 1 

16. With what, were the decemvirs invested 1 ? How did they govern 1 ? 
What caused a termination of the office 1 

17. What was one of the crimes of Appius Claudius'? What was the 
other ? 

18. What decree did he pronounce ? What was done by Virginius ? 
What was the effect ? What took place respecting the decemvirs and de- 
cemvirate ? 

Section III. 

1. What were the barriers which still separated the patricians and ple- 
beians ? Which was repealed ? What was the effect 1 

2. What officers were chosen instead of consuls 1 Did this institution 
continue long 1 ? 

3. What was prevented by the disorders of the republic 1 What officers 
were appointed to remedy this neglect ? What was their duty ? What is 
said of this office ? 

4. What practice was introduced to avoid the evils arising from the 
people's refusing to enlist in the army 1 What changes took place after 
this 1 

5. What decree was made respecting Veii 1 What followed ? 

6. How did Camillus proceed ? How was he rewarded ? 

7. What is related of the Gauls ? In what did they engage ? What 
reply did Brennus make to the ambassadors from the senate ? What did 

JBrennus do in consequence of the ambassador's having assisted the inhab- 
itants of Clusium'? 

8. What steps did the Gauls take after the battle of Allia ? What en- 
terprise did a body of Gauls perform ? What was the issue 1 

9. On what condition did the Gauls agree to quit the city ? What was 
done by Camillus ? 

10. What afterwards happened to Manlius ? 

1 1 . Against whom did the Romans next turn their arms ? How long 
did this contest last, and how was it carried on ? What disgrace did the 
Samnites cause the Romans to undergo 1 What was the effect ? 

12. What war broke out during the consulship of Torquatus Manlius 1 
What is related respecting the son of Manlius ? 

13. What course did the Tarentines take 1 With how large an army 
did Pyrrhus land ? What was the issue of the battle ? What exclamation 
did Pyrrhus make ? 

14. 'What generous conduct is related of Fabricius? What effect did 
this have on Pyrrhus ? 

15. What course did Pyrrhus afterwards take ? Of what did the Ro- 
mans now become masters ? 
31 



362 ROME. 



Section IV. 

1 . With what states does the history of Rome now become connected ? 

2. By whom was Carthage founded ? What was the government ? 
What was the religion ? 

3. What was the situation of Carthage in the time of the Punic wars ? 
What had it under its dominion ? What is said of the character of the 
Carthaginians ? 

4. Did Carthage produce many philosophers ? What generals did it 
produce ? 

5. By whom was Sicily colonized? What is said of Syracuse 1 How 
was it governed ? 

6. What is said of Gelon and his successors ? By whom was the regal 
government restored ? By whom was Dionysius the Younger dethroned ? 

Section V. 

1. What were the Romans desirous of, after having become masters of 
all Lower Italy ? What conquests had they not yet made ? What is said 
of Carthage ? How are the Carthaginians and Romans compared ? 

2. How was the first Punic war brought on ? What was the object of 
both parties ? 

3. What course did the Romans take ? What was their success ? 
What part did the Syracusans act ? 

4. What further advantages did the Romans gain ? What course was 
adopted by Regulus ? What was the issue ? What is further related of 
Regulus ? 

5. What was the final issue of the war? To what terms did the Car- 
thaginians agree ? What was the state of Sicily and Syracuse ? What 
conquest did the Romans next make ? 

6. How long did peace last ? How long was it since the temple of 
Janus had been shut ? 

7. What is said of Hamilcar ? What of Hannibal ? How did Hannibal 
commence the second Punic war ? 

8. What design did Hannibal now form and execute ? What is said of 
the victory of Cannse, and of the losses of the Romans ? 

9. For what has Hannibal been censured ? 

10. By whose counsels were the Romans now guided? What were 
Pabius and Marcellus styled? What was the subsequent fortune of 
Hannibal ? 

1 1 . What is related respecting Syracuse ? What did it now become ? 
What was the fate of the Carthaginians under Asdrubal ? 

12. What was done by Scipio the Younger? What course did the 
Carthaginians adopt ? What engagement followed ? What were the con- 
ditions of peace ? How long did the war continue ? 

13. Where did Hannibal pass the rest of his life ? With whom did he 
hold friendly conversations ? What reply did he make to the question, 
whom he thought the greatest general ? 

14. How did the first Macedonian war terminate ? What victory did 
the Roman army under Scipio Asiaticus gain ? How did the second 
Macedonian war terminate ? 

15. What was the pretext with the Romans for commencing the third 
Punic war ? What is stated of Porcius Cato ? 

16. What was offered on the part of the Carthaginians ? What did the 
Romans require of them ? How was the demand received ? 

17. What was the duration and issue of the siege? What is related re- 
specting the desti-uction of the city ? 

18. By what other event was the same year signalized? What qther 
conquest did the Romans soon after make ? 



ROME. 363 

Section VI. 

1 . How had the Romans been hitherto characterized ? What changes 
were now introduced ? 

2. What was now the condition of Rome ? What took place after there 
ceased to be danger from a foreign enemy ? 

3. What is related of Tiberius and Caius Gracchus? What did Ti- 
berius attempt ? What was the issue ? 

4. What is related of his brother Caius ? 

5. How did Jugurtha attempt to obtain the crown of Numidia ? What 
were his further proceedings ? 

6. Who commanded the Roman army in the war against Jugurtha? 
What was the issue ? What victory did Marius afterwards gain ? 

7. What gave rise to the Social war ? How many men were destroyed 
in it ? How was it ended ? 

8. What design did Mithridates form ? How did he begin the Mithri- 
datic war ? What Romans bore a distinguished part in it ? 

9. What is related respecting Sylla ? What of his rival Marius ? 

10. What course did Sylla take ? What became of Marius ? What 
was performed by Cinna ? What is further related of Marius and Cinna 1 

1 1 . What was done by Sylla after returning from his campaign ? How 
did he proceed after he had wreaked his vengeance on his enemies ? What 
epitaph did he write for himself ? How many were slain in the civil war 
between Sylla and Marius ? 

12. What took place after the death of Sylla ? By whom was the party 
of Marius supported ? 

13. By what war was Rome next harassed ? What was its termination ? 

14. What took place a few years after the defeat of Spartacus ? What 
plan was concerted ? 

15. By whom was this conspiracy detected and crushed 1 How was it 
ended ? 

Section VII. 

1. Why was Pompey surnamed the Great 1 ? What did he perform? 
How was he received on returning to Rome ? 

2. Who were now the most considerable men in Rome? What is 
related of Julius Caesar? What was done by Pompey, Crassus, and 
Caesar ? 

3. How did they distribute the provinces ? What was the course of 
Crassus ? What took place with regard to Csesar and Pompey ? 

4. What course did Csesar take after the division of the provinces ? 
What is said of his career ? How did he continue to give a color of jus- 
tice and humanity to his operations ? What did he acquire ? 

5. What is related of Pompey ? What took place when the term of 
Caesar's government was about to expire ? What then followed ? Who 
were friends of Pompey ? Who were on the side of Caesar ? 

6. What preparations had Pompey made ? What reply did he make 
when asked with what troops he expected to oppose Caesar ? 

7. What course did Caesar adopt ? What river formed the limits of his 
command ? What did he do on arriving at the banks of this river ? 

8. What effect did the news of this movement have at Rome ? What 
course did Pompey adopt ? By whom was he followed ? 

9. What success did Caesar meet with ? For what purpose did he say 
that he had entered Italy ? What was his next course ? 

10. What part did the monarchs of the East take ? By whom was 
Pompey joined ? 

11. What were Caesar's movements after staying eleven days at Rome? 
What is said of the importance of the contest ? 



364 ROME. 

12. What force hud each of the parties ? What was the feeling on the 
side of Pompey ? What was the issue of the engagement % 

13. What acts of clemency did Caesar perform ? What is related of 
him on viewing the field of battle 1 

14. What is related of the course and fate of Pompey 1 What inscrip- 
tion was placed over his ashes ? What anecdote is related respecting 
Caesar 1 

15. By whom was the throne of Egypt now possessed ? What is men- 
tioned respecting Cleopatra 1 What war ensued ? What called Csesar 
away from Egypt 1 How did Csesar express the rapidity of his victory 
over Pharnaces 1 

16. What was Caesar's next proceeding'? Over whom did he gain a 
victory at Thapsus in Africa ? What is related of Cato % 

17. What triumph did Csesar celebrate on returning to Rome 1 What 
else did he do to please the army and people ? What effect did these acts 
produce on the multitude and senate % 

18. What expedition was he next obliged to undertake ? What was 
the issue % 

1 9. How did he use his power after having subdued all who opposed his 
usurpation ? What did he say respecting his designs "? How did he pro- 
ceed, and what did he perform % 

20. What rumor was circulated respecting Caesar's designs ? What is 
said of the feelings of the people 1 What design was formed against him ? 
What is said of Brutus and of Cassius ? 

21. What time did the conspirators fix upon for executing their designs ? 
How did he defend himself, and what was the result 1 What particulars 
are mentioned respecting his age and career 1 

22. What threefold character did Caesar unite 2 What is said of Iris 
claims to regard 1 

23. What is remarked of his career and disposition 1 What apology 
has been made for him ? What Roman patriots lived in the same age 1 

24. What remark did he make in passing a village among the Alps ? 
What sentiment of Euripides did he often repeat ? 

25. What is said of his military character, and his popularity with his 
troops 1 How are Alexander and Caesar compared 1 

26. What summary does Mailer give of Caesar's exploits ? 

27. How did the murder of Csesar affect the Roman people ? What 
was done by Mark Antony, and what was the effect 1 

28. What is related of Mark Antony, Lepidus, and Octavius ? 

29. What did they stipulate % Who were some of the persons consigned 
to death ? What is related respecting the death of Cicero 1 What per- 
sons were sacrificed in the proscription "? 

30. What is related of Brutus and Cassius ? By whom were they pur- 
sued ? What was the issue 1 What course did Brutus and Cassius take 1 

31. What is mentioned respecting the triumvirs 1 What is related of 
Antony and Cleopatra ? 

32. What was the effect of the battle of Actium ? What course did 
Antony and Cleopatra take ? 

Section VIII. 

1. What is said of the battle of Actium 1 What is said of Augustus ? 
What did Agrippa, and what did Maecenas advise him to do 1 

2. To which did Augustus give the preference ? How did he proceed ? 

3. What is said of his reputation ? What of his reign, and what did he 
effect ? 

4. In what year of his age, and after how long a reign, did he die 1 
What is said of him 1 



ROME. 365 

5. Of what were Augustus and Maecenas patrons ? What is said of 
the Augustan age ? 

6. By what is the reign of Augustus rendered memorable ? When did 
the birth of our Saviour take place 1 When did he suffer crucifixion ? 

7 . By whom was Augustus succeeded ? How did he commence his 
reign ? How did he afterwards proceed ? 

8. How did the successes of Germanicus affect Tiberius ? Whom did 
he then take into his confidence ? What did Sejanus persuade him to do ? 
What finally happened to Sejanus and Tiberius ? 

9. Whom did Tiberius adopt for his heir and successor ? What is re- 
lated of him and his proceedings ? What does Seneca say of him ? 

10. What took place after the death of Caligula'? Who was raised to 
the throne ? What is said of him % 

11. What enterprise did he undertake? What is said of Caractacus ? 
What exclamation did he make on being led through the streets of Rome ? 

12. What is related of Messalina ? What of Agrippina ? 

13. By whom was Nero educated ? How did he commence his reign ? 
What is said of his character ? Who were some of the victims of Ms 
cruelty ? 

14. Why did he cause Rome to be set on fire ? How did he attempt 
to divert the public odium from himself ? 

15. What is said of Nero ? By whom was the conspiracy against him 
headed? What crimes did Galba enumerate? What took place respect- 
ing him ? 

16. Who was declared emperor after the death of Nero ? What is said 
of Galba ? Whom did he adopt for his successor, and what was the con- 
sequence ? What does Tacitus say of him ? 

17. Who was then proclaimed emperor ? What afterwards took place ? 
What course did Vitellius take on being proclaimed emperor ? What 
afterwards took place ? 

18. How was Vespasian received after being declared emperor ? What 
is said of him and his acts ? 

19. For what is his reign memorable ? What was done to Jerusalem ? 
How many perished, and how many were taken prisoners ? What be- 
came of the survivors ? 

20. By whom was Vespasian succeeded ? What is related of Titus ? 
What event happened during his reign ? By whom was he succeeded ? 

21 What is said of Domitian, his character and habits ? 

22. What was the manner of Domitian's death ? By what was his reign 
signalized ? 

23. Who was the last and who the first of the twelve Caesars ? 

Section IX. 

1. Who succeeded Domitian? What is said of Nerva? Whom did 
he adopt for his successor ? 

2. What is said of Trajan ? For what has he been commended ? What 
is said of him as a general ? What charge did he give to the pretorian 
prefect on presenting the sword ? What surname did the senate confer 
upon him, and how were they accustomed to hail every new emperor ? 

3. What was the extent of the empire in the reign of Trajan ? What 
conquests did he make ? How were his victories commemorated ? 

4. What is said of him with respect to literature ? What is remarked 
of his death ? By what was his character tarnished ? 

5. By whom was Trajan succeeded ? What is said of Adrian ? To 
what did he devote himself? What expedition did he undertake ? What 
was done by him in Britain ? 

6. What did he do respecting Jerusalem ? What course did the Jews 

31* 



366 ROME. 

take ? What destruction was made by the emperor's army ? Whom did 
Adrian adopt for his successor ? 

7. What is said of Titus Antoninus and his reign 1 What was his 
favorite maxim ? 

8. Who succeeded Antoninus Pius ? What is said of him ? To what 
was he attached ? 

9. Did the Antonines permit the persecution of the Christians ? What 
was presented to the former of the two ? What happened to the army 
under the latter ? 

10. What are the last five emperors styled ? What took place after this 
period ? 

Section X. 

1. By whom was Aurelius succeeded? What is said of Commodus ? 
By whom was he succeeded ? What was his fate ? 

2. What was now done with the empire ? Who was proclaimed em- 
peror instead of Didius Julianus ? Who were his competitors 1 What is 
said of Severus ? What did he do in Britain ? 

3. To whom did Severus leave the empire ? What is related of them ? 
Who succeeded Macrinus ? 

4. What is said of Heliogabalus ? What was his fate ? 

5. By whom was Heliogabalus succeeded ? What is said of Alexander 
Severus ? By whom was he murdered and succeeded ? What is said of 
Maximin ? 

6. Hoav many reigns were there between Alexander Severus and Diocle- 
tian ? What was the length of this period ? What is said of these reigns ? 

7. By whom was Valerian taken prisoner ? How was he treated 1 

8. What is said of the reign of Aurelian ? For what was he distin- 
guished ? What exploits did he perform ? What took place on his return 
to Rome ? 

9. What is said of Diocletian ? What did he do after he had reigned 
awhile ? How was the empire divided ? 

10. What happened during this reign ? What is said of this perse- 
cution 1 

11. What did Diocletian experience in the latter part of his reign? 
What course did he take ? What did he say of his situation ? 

Section XL 

1. Where did Constantius die? Who succeeded him? What extra- 
ordinary circumstance is related by historians ? 

2. What did Constantine become ? To what did he put an end ? What 
is remarked of his reign ? 

3. What important event took place during his reign ? What is thought 
to have been the effect of this measure ? What is said of the character of 
Constantine ? 

4. How did Constantine divide the empire? Who became sole em- 
peror ? What is said of the reign of Constantius ? 

5. By whom was Constantius succeeded? What is said of him? What 
did he undertake to do, and what was the issue ? How was he killed ? 

6. By whom was Julian succeeded ? Who was next chosen emperor ? 
What course did he adopt ? What people settled in Thrace ? 

7. Who succeeded Valentinian ? Who became sole emperor after the 
death of Gratian and Valentinian II. ? By what was his reign signalized ? 
What is said of him ? By whom was he succeeded ? 

8. What happened through the weakness of the emperors ? What was 
done by the Goths ? Who defeated Alaric ? What did Alaric afterwards 
perform ? To what was the city reduced ? 



ROME. 367 

9. "What took place after the ravages of famine ? What was the ad- 
dress of Alaric to his array ? What is said of the devastation ? 

10. What did the Goths do after the death of Alaric 1 

11. What took place after the sacking of Rome hy Alaric ? What de- 
feat did Attila suffer 1 What did he do afterwards ? 

12. What was the occasion of the invasion of Genseric? WTiat was 
performed by him ? 

13. What took place with regard to the Western Empire after the death 
of Valentinian III. ? 

14. What is said of the rise and fall of the empire ? 

Section XII. 

1 . How long did the kingdom of the Heruli continue ? By whom was 
it terminated ? Where was the residence of Theodoric ? Who defeated 
Theodotus ? What afterwards took place 1 

2. What was done by Narses after he was recalled by Justin ? WTiat 
was done by Alboin ? How long did the kingdom of the Lombards last ? 
By whom was it overthrown ? What is said of the period from Theo- 
dosius to the establishment of the Lombards in Italy % 

3. What is said of the Goths 1 Why were the Ostrogoths and Visigoths 
so called ? Who were the Heruli and Lombards ? 

4. What is said of the Eastern Empire ? 

5. When was this empire in the meridian of its glory 1 What is said 
of the code of Justinian ? 

6. What was performed by Belisarius and Narses ? What church was 
built by Justinian ? What is remarked of him and his successors 1 

7. What happened after the removal of the seat of empire 1 How did 
this controversy terminate ? 

8. What was done by the Crusaders in 1204 1 How long did their domin- 
ion continue ? What was the seat of the Greek emperors during this time 1 

9. When and by whom was an end put to the Eastern Empire ? 

Section XIII. — Roman Antiquities. 

2. To whom has the whole structure of the Roman constitution under 
the monarchy been attributed ? What was doubtless true ? 

3. What three divisions of the people are attributed to Romulus ? Who 
added a fourth tribe ? How were the tribes named 1 

4. What other division was made by Servius 1 How were the classes 
formed ? How many centuries were there ? 

5. What order was added to those of patricians and plebeians ? Of 
whom were the knights composed % 

6. Who were the nobiles? The homines novi? The ignobiks? The 
ingenui ? The liberti or libertini ? 

7. Of whom did the Roman citizens consist 1 

8. Who were the slaves? How were they considered ? How did men 
become slaves 1 

9. What is said of the Icings ? WTiat could they not do of themselves ? 
What were their badges ? In what did they sit, and by whom were they 
attended ? 

10. Of how many members did the senate consist? How were they 
chosen ? How often did thev meet ? What was a senatus consultum? 
Why were the senators styled patres I Why did the patricians derive their 
name from them ? 

11. Whv were the magistrates previous to their election styled candidati ? 

12. How were the Roman magistrates divided ? Who were the ordinary 
magistrates ? The extraordinary 1 The provincial ? 



368 ROME. 

13. What is said of the consuls ? What was done respecting them in 
dangerous conjunctures ? What age was requisite in order to be a consul ? 

14. What is said of the pretor? What were his duties 1 

15. What is said of the office of censor? How many censors were 
there, and what were their duties ? 

16. For what purpose was the office of the tribunes instituted? 

17. What were the duties of ediles ? What two kinds were there ? 

18. What duties did the questors perform'? What were the duties of 
the military questors ? The provincial questors ? 

19. What were the comitia? How many kinds were there ? For what 
purpose were the comitia summoned ? 

20. Of what did the comitia curiata consist ? 

21. What is said of the comitia centuriata? What was done by them? 
Where did they meet ? 

22. What were the comitia tributa ? For what were they held ? 

23. How long did the comitia continue to be assembled ? Who discon- 
tinued them? 

24. What is said of the priests or ministers of religion ? What priests 
were common to all the gods ? 

. 25. What is said of the pontifices ? Of the pontifex maximus ? 

26. What is said of the augurs ? What of their office ? In what five 
ways did they divine ? 

27. Who were the haruspices? From what did they derive their 
omens ? 

28. Who were the quindecimviri ? What were the Sibylline books sup 
posed to contain ? 

29. Who were the septemviri ? 

30. What were the priests of particular deities called? Who were 
the chief of them ? 

31. Where did the Romans worship their gods? Of what did their 
worship consist ? 

32. What festivals were there among the Romans? Which were the 
most celebrated ? 

33. What games or shows were exhibited ? 

34. Who were the gladiators ? When were these combats introduced ? 
Of whom were the combatants composed ? What took place in these 
exhibitions ? What is related of the spectacles exhibited after the triumph 
of Trajan over the Dacians ? 

35. What was a triumph ? On whom was the honor bestowed ? What 
is said of the procession? Of whom was it composed? 

36. What were the most distinguished parts of the Roman dress? 
What was the toga ? By whom was the toga virilis assumed ? What 
was the tunica ? 

37. What was the principal meal among the Romans ? On what did 
the early Romans chiefly live ? How was it afterwards ? How did they 
place themselves at their meals ? What was their ordinary drink. 

38. What was the Forum ? By what was it surrounded ? 

39. What was the Campus Martius ? By what was it adorned ? 



Chronological Table of Roman History. — No 1. 

Who was the first king of Rome ? Who the last ? When did Romulus 
found Rome ? When was the regal government abolished ? What was 
done by Romulus ? Numa ? &c. 

When did the contests between the patricians and plebeians begin? 
When was Rome burnt by the Gauls ? When did the first Punic War 
begin ? The second ? The third ? What were Hannibal's victories ? 



THE ARABS OR SARACENS. 369 

When did the Mithridatic war begin ? The civil war between Marius 
and Sylla ? Between Caesar and Pompey ? Battle of Actium ? 
What events took place in the 4th century B. C. 1 The 3d ? &c. 

Chronological Table or Roman History. — No. 2. 

Who was the first emperor of Rome ? 

Who the last sole emperor of the West and East ? Who the last of 
the Western Empire ? 

When did Augustus begin to reign 1 Trajan ? Diocletian ? Constan- 
tine the Great ? Who was the last of the twelve Caesars ? 

When was the empire divided into Western and Eastern ? 

When did the Western Empire terminate ? 

What is said of Augustus or his reign ? Tiberius ? &c. 



Chronological Table of Roman Literature. 

What public men flourished in the 5th century B. C-? In the 4th? 
&c. 

What poets flourished in the 2d century B. C. In the 1st? What 
ones in the 1st century A. D. 1 The 2d ? 

What historians in the 1st century B. C. ? In the 1st A. D. ? 

What philosophers, orators, &c, in the 1st century B. C? In the 1st 
A. D.? 

What Jews in the 5th century B. C. ? In the 1st A. D. ? 

What Christians in the 1st century A. D. ? The 2d ? &c. 



THE MIDDLE AGES. 

1. What do the Middle Ages comprise ? What was the state of Eu- 
rope during these centuries ? 

2. When did the migration of the Goths, Vandals, Huns, &c, take 
place ? Of what did they possess themselves ? What followed 1 At 
what time did literature begin to decline? When was the darkest 
period ? 

3. What is related respecting these times ? To what was the learning 
which existed confined ? 

4. What was the state of morals and of Christianity ? What was the 
political state of Europe ? 

5. What methods of discovering guilt or innocence were used ? 

6. What was the most considerable empire that existed in Europe 
during the Middle Ages? What impostor appeared in these ages? 
At what period did the Saracens cultivate literature ? 

7. What are some of the most remarkable circumstances which char- 
acterized these ages ? 

THE ARABS OR SARACENS. 

1. What is said of the Arabians before the time of Mahomet? 

2. What is related of the Saracens ? 

3. What is said of the introduction of Christianity into Arabia ? What 
kind of Christianity was it ? 

4. What is said of Mahomet? How was the Koran formed? On 
what did Mahomet rely as proofs of his inspiration ? 

5. What were his two leading doctrines? What other persons did 
he admit to have been inspired? What did he adopt and retain? To 
what did he chiefly owe his success ? 



370 THE FEUDAL SYSTEM. 

6. How did he propagate his religion, and stimulate his followers'? 
What was inculcated as a fundamental doctrine ? What do the Saracens 
term their religion ? 

7. How did Mahomet at first succeed ? Who were his first converts ? 

8. What was he compelled to do ? What is said of his Flight or He- 
gira? How did he enter Medina? What was his subsequent career? 

9. What is said in favor of Mahomet? What further is said of his 
character ? 

10. By whom was Mahomet succeeded? What is the meaning of 
caliph? What is related of Abu-bekir? Who was his successor ? 

11. What conquests did Omar make? 

12. What answer did Omar give, when requested to spare the Alex- 
andrian library ? How many volumes did the library contain ? 

13. What did Omar perform in the space of ten years ? By whom was 
he succeeded ? Who was elected after the death of Othman ? What is 
said of him ? 

14. What is related of the progress and extent of the Saracen empire? 

15. For what is the reign of Ali remarkable? What is said of the 
partisans of Ali ? What of the Sunnites ? Who belong to each ? 

16. To what place did Ali remove the seat of the sovereigns ? To 
what place was it afterwards removed? What caliphate ranked next 
to that of Bagdad ? What is related of Walid ? 

17. What was the first race of the caliphs styled ? The second ? What 
is related of AlmaUsor ? 

18. What is said of the reign of Haroun al Easchid ? By what did he 
render himself illustrious? What are to be referred to these times? 
What sciences were cultivated? What is said of the successors of 
Haroun al Raschid ? 

19. What took place with respect to Arabia after the seat of govern- 
ment was removed to Bagdad ? 

20. What is remarked of the Saracens and their states ? How did 
Spain, Egypt, Morocco, and India regard the caliph of Bagdad? 

21. How many caliphs did the house of Abbas furnish? How long 
did Bagdad continue the seat of empire ? When and by whom was the 
caliphate abolished ? 

22. What is said of the immediate successors of Mahomet? What 
were their manners ? How did they proceed after their power was es- 
tablished ? 

23. What is said of the power of the caliphs ? Was there any privi- 
leged order ? By what were they bound to observe the duties of human- 
ity and justice ? What office did theirs resemble ? 



THE FEUDAL SYSTEM. 

1. What was the origin of the Feudal System? By what sovereigns 
was it adopted ? 

2. How did the northern barbarians dispose of their conquered lands ? 
Who had the largest portion? What were those who received lands 
bound to render ? 

3. How did the courtiers manage ? How is a feudal kingdom described ? 

4. What is said of the barons or lords ? 

5. What was the fundamental principle of this system? What were 
the grantor, and those to whom he made grants, styled ? How was the 
service esteemed? 

6. What was the condition of the great mass of the people? 

7. What is said of the feudal government ? What did a kingdom re- 
semble ? 



THE CRUSADES. 371 

8. What did a kingdom often exhibit? In what period was Europe 
in a state of anarchy and war ? 

9. What were the principal causes of the overthrow of the Feudal 
System ? In what countries do relics of it still exist ? 



THE CRUSADES. 

1. What were the Crusades ? What nations engaged in them 1 What 
is related of the Saracens ? What of the Turks I What is said of the 
dangers of pilgrimage 1 

2. What is related of Peter the Hermit ? 

3. What course did Pope Urban II. take ? How was the project 
opened? Why were these expeditions termed Crusades? What was 
granted to all who devoted themselves to the service ? 

4. What description of persons took the cross? What were their 
inducements ? What was done by Peter the Hermit ? By what was 
Peter's army followed ? What was their fate ? 

5. What is said of the other part of the expedition ? Who were the 
commanders ? To what did the force amount ? 

6. What did they accomplish ? What was the fortune of Godfrey ? 

7. How did the conquerors divide Syria and Palestine? What after- 
wards took place ? What was the fate of the army under Hugh ? 

8. By whom was the second crusade preached, and who engaged in it ? 
What was the issue ? 

9. What is related of Saladin ? 

10. Who united in the third crusade ? What happened to Frederick ? 
What is said of the French and English ? 

11. What did Richard perform? What happened to him on his re- 
turn? 

12. Who engaged in the fourth crusade ? What was his fortune ? 

13. What was performed by John de Brienne? 

14. What is said of St. Louis IX. ? 

15. What was his success? How did his crusade against the Moors 
terminate ? 

16. To what did the crusades owe their origin ? What is said of them ? 
What character did they assume ? What were some of their effects ? 
How many Europeans were buried in the East while they lasted ? What 
became of those who survived ? 

17. Of what beneficial effects were they productive? In what were 
these effects observable ? 

18. What system prevailed in Europe at this period? What were the 
barons who engaged in the crusade obliged to do? What was the 
effect ? How did kings raise money ? 

19. What is said of the manners and mode of life that prevailed in 
Europe ? With what did the crusaders become acquainted in the East ? 
To what institutions did the crusades give rise ? 

20. What was the effect of the crusades on commerce and the arts ? 
How had commerce before this period been carried on ? What changes 
afterwards took place ? 

21. What was the effect of the crusades on literature and religion? 
What is said of the period of then* commencement and duration ? What 
took place after two centuries of disaster ? 

22. Were these benefits designed by the projectors ? 



372 CHIVALRY. 



CHIVALRY. 



1 . "What is said of Chivalry ? What does it constitute with regard to 
the Middle Ages ? What were its distinguishing features ? 

2. What is said of the early history of chivalry ? When did it origi- 
nate'? Where were its principles found before 1 ? By what was it im- 
bodied into form ? What was the effect of the crusades upon it ? 

3. In what countries did chivalry prevail 1 ? 

4. How were the sons of noblemen destined for chivalry disciplined ? 
What was the place of their education? What were their different 
titles ? 

5. How were they managed 1 ? By whom were they surrounded'? 
What were they taught ? 

6. What were they taught by the ladies of the castle ? What were 
they accustomed to do in order that they might have opportunity to prac- 
tise the instructions which they received ? 

7. What was the proper age for admission to the honors of knight- 
hood ? How did the candidate prepare himself? 

8. What did he do after having performed the preliminary rites ? 

9. What were the insignia of chivalry which he received from the 
knights and the ladies ? In what manner was he dubbed? 

10. What was the most important part of the equipments of a knight? 
What were his weapon and arms ? What was his dress ? 

1 1 . What virtues and endowments were necessary to form an accom- 
plished knight ? 

12. In what estimation was chivalry held ? What did one become on 
being dubbed ? What had he a right to do ? 

13. What was he authorized to do ? How did he proceed in relation 
to his mistress ? What was the injunction of a sovereign when he led 
his army to the attack ? 

14. What is said of the influence of chivalry on the female sex? What 
was the duty of the knights with regard to the ladies ? 

15. What is said of the behavior of a knight with regard to the fair 
sex. 

16. Of what were the knights and ladies ambitious ? 

17. What virtues did chivalry enjoin? How was a chevalier treated 
on entering the castle of another ? If he arrived wounded, how was he 
received ? 

18. What were the favorite amusements and exercises of the knights? 
What does Hallam say of the tournaments ? 

19. What is said of the reward of the victor? 

20. What is said of the influence of chivalry ? What effects are men- 
tioned ? 

21. With what did chivalry rise and fall? What put an end both to 
the feudal system and to chivalry ? 

22. What does Dr. Robertson say of the exploits of the knights, and 
of the effects of chivalry ? During what centuries were the effects of 
chivalry most felt ? 

23. What is said of the morals of chivalry ? What productions afford 
evidence of dissolute morals ? 

24. What was professed and what performed by the knights ? What 
did chivalry nourish ? To what did it give birth ? 

25. To whom is the original of the duel traced ? How far did it pre- 
vail among the Germans, Danes, and Franks ? 

26. What is related respecting its regulations ? For what purpose was 
it then resorted to ? For what end is it now practised ? 



FRANCE. 373 



MODERN HISTORY. 

1. "What different periods have been adopted for the commencement 
of Modern History 1 

2. What is the most convenient method in treating of the history of 
the several European States ? What European sovereignty traces its ori- 
gin farther back than the 9 th century ? 

3. What is said of the period that succeeded the downfall of the Eastern 
Empire ? What do we see on casting an eye back to this period ? 

4. What were some of the causes of the beneficial changes ? 

• 5. W r hat is said of the Hanse Towns 1 When was the League formed, 
and what towns were associated ? Where were its depots ? 

6. When was the League most flourishing ? "What is said of its de- 
cline ? 

7. When had Venice, Genoa, and Pisa the management of European 
commerce ? What states took the lead in the maritime discoveries of the 
15th and 16th centuries ? 

8. By what states have Spain and Portugal been succeeded in maritime 
enterprise ? 

9. What are now the most powerful European States ? What are the 
countries of which the history is most important to Americans ? 



FRANCE. 

Section I. 

1. What is said of the history of France and of England? How long 
did the kings of England hold possessions in France ? 

2. Who were the ancestors of the French ? What did ancient Gaul 
comprehend ? By whom and when was it conquered ? From what 
people did it receive its modem name ? 

3. What is related of the Franks ? What is the first race of French 
kings styled ? Who is regarded as the founder of the monarchy ? What 
did he perform ? 

4. What is said of the Merovingian kings ? What is related of Pepin 
d'Heristel and Charles Martel ? 

5. How did Pepin obtain the crown ? Of what race of kings was he 
the founder ? How did Pepin reward the pope ? 

6. By whom was Pepin succeeded ? 

7. What is related of Charlemagne ? When was he crowned Emperor 
of the West ? What did his empire comprise ? 

8. What is said of Charlemagne's services to literature? How did 
he manifest his zeal for religion ? 

9. What is related of his private character and habits ? 

10. By whom was Charlemagne succeeded? What great battle was 
fought by the rival brothers ? What division of the empire followed ? 

11. By whom was Charles the Bald succeeded? Who was elected 
after the short reign of his sons, Louis III. and Carloman ? What event 
followed ? 

12. To whom was the crown next given? What took place during 
the reign of Charles the Simple ? 

13. What took place during the reigns of Louis IV. and Lothaire? 
What is related of Hugh Capet ? 

32 



374 FRANCE. 



Section II. 

1. By whom was Hugh Capet succeeded? 

2. What law was enacted during the reign of Henry 1. ? 

3. By what was the reign of Philip I. signalized? What may he 
dated from the invasion of France by William the Conqueror ? 

4. What is said of Louis VI. ? 

5. What three eminent men flourished during the reign of Louis VI.? 

6. What act of violence did Louis perform ? To what did the remorse 
which he felt give rise ? 

7. Who was the wife of Louis, and what is related of her? 

8. What is said of Philip Augustus ? How did he signalize the com- 
mencement of his reign ? 

9. Of what did Philip accuse John, king of England, and of what did 
he deprive him ? 

10. By whom was Philip succeeded? 

11. What is said of Louis IX.? For what was he distinguished? 
What was his principal weakness ? 

12. By whom was St. Louis succeeded ? What event took place during 
his reign ? 

13. What is said of Philip IV.? How was he involved in a quarrel 
with Pope Boniface ? 

14. What took place after the death of Boniface? What is the re- 
moval of the seat of the papacy to Avignon called ? What other acts 
did Philip perform ? 

15. By whom was Philip succeeded? For what was the reign of Philip 
V. noted ? 

Section III. 

1. What is said of the children of Philip the Fair? On whom did 
the throne devolve after the death of Charles the Fair ? 

2. Who claimed the crown ? To what did this claim of Edward give 
rise ? What did Edward perform ? What favorable event happened to 
Philip in the midst of his misfortunes ? 

3. By whom was Philip succeeded, and what happened to him ? 

4. Who next ascended the throne? What measures did Charles V. 
adopt, and what was performed ? 

5. What is said of Charles ? How large a library did he collect ? 

6. By whom was Charles V. succeeded ? What is said of him and of 
his reign ? Who was his queen ? 

7. What advantages did Henry V. of England gain ? 

8. Who next succeeded to the throne? What place did the English 
besiege, and with what success ? 

9. By whom was the power of England overthrown ? Who was this 
heroine? 

10. How did she execute her exploit? How did Charles succeed? 
What course did Joan then take, and what was her fate ? 

11. What was the success of the French? What is further related 
of Charles ? 

12. What is said of the character and reign of Louis XI. ? 

13. In what war was he involved with the nobles ? 

14. What is said of Charles VIII. ? In what expedition did he en- 
gage ? 



FRANCE. 375 



Section IV. 

1 . By whom was Charles VIII. succeeded ! What was the character 
of Louis XII. What did he say with respect to those ministers who had 
treated him ill before he came to the throne ? 

2. What is related of his exploits and success ? 

3. What is said of the republic of Venice ? Who projected the League 
of Cambray against it ? What was the issue ? 

4. What victory did the French gain? What took place after the 
death of Gaston de Foix ? 

5. Who succeeded Louis XII. ? What is said of Francis ? 

6. For what were Francis and Charles rival candidates'? What did 
Francis say with respect to the object of competition ? 

7. What was the issue, and how did it affect the two rivals ? 

8. For what is the reign of Charles V. distinguished'? What is said 
of Charles and other contemporary sovereigns ? 

9. What was the commencement of the contest between the two rivals? 
What is related respecting the Constable of Bourbon 1 What happened 
to the king of France at Pavia q 

10. What course did Charles take with regard to Francis ? What did 
the French king do after being set at liberty ? What is said of the con- 
duct of the two sovereigns ? 

1 1 . How did the two monarchs treat each other, when they met at 
Aigues Mortes, after having been at war for 20 years ? What afterwards 
took place 1 

12. What was the occasion of the renewal of the war 1 ? What was 
the issue ? 

13. How did Francis leave his kingdom? What did he patronize? 
What did the French court acquire at this period ? 

14. What qualities did Francis possess? What was his character? 

15. Who was the successor of Francis, and what is said of Henry II.? 
What is said of his reign ? What great events took place during this 
war? 

16. How was this war terminated? By what other events was the 
reign of Henry signalized ? 

17. Who was the successor of Henry? Who succeeded Francis II. ? 

18. What was now the state of Protestantism in France? 

19. Who was at the head of the Catholics? For what purpose was 
the conspiracy of Amboise formed ? What was the issue of it ? 

20. What public conference was held? What edict was published? 
What followed ? 

21. What is said of the contest? What is said of the treaty of peace? 

22. What is related respecting the marriage of Henry of Navarre? 
What massacre was planned ? What is related respecting the massacre 
on St. Bartholomew's day? 

23. How many are said to have been murdered? What does De 
Thou say of it ? 

24. What is related respecting Charles ? 

25. What was done at Rome on hearing the news? What is further 
said of Charles and his reign ? 

26. By whom was Charles succeeded? What was the effect of the 
massacre of St. Bartholomew? What did Henry do for the Protestants ? 
What course did the Catholics take ? 

27. What measure was the king persuaded to adopt? How did he 
find himself situated, and what did he do ? What was the consequence ? 



376 FRANCE. 



Section V. 

1. To whom did the throne pass after the death of Henry III. What 
is said of the mother of Henry IV., and of himself? 

2. What is said of the army of the League ? In what battle did Henry 
defeat it ? 

3. Why did Henry change his religion? What followed? What did 
he do in favor of the Calvinists ? 

4. To what did Henry turn his attention after being quietly seated on 
the throne ? By whom was he assisted ? What change was effected ? 

5. What romantic scheme did Henry form? What happened to him 
before he executed his design ? 

6. What is said of the character of Henry? What was his reply when 
asked what the revenue of France amounted to ? 

7. What were the defects of his character? How many persons were 
killed in duels during the first eighteen years of his reign ? 

8. By whom was Henry succeeded? What is said of Mary de Medi- 
cis ? What is related of Cardinal Richelieu, his policy, and objects ? 

9. What course did the Protestants take ? What measure did Richelieu 
adopt ? What was the issue ? 

10. What is further related respecting the proceedings of Richelieu ? 
By whom was a rebellion excited ? What did Richelieu effect ? 

11. What is said of the character of Louis ? 

12. Who next succeeded to the throne? Who was chosen minister? 
What is said of Mazarin ? By what was his administration signalized ? 

13. What took place after the death of Mazarin? What is related 
of Louis and his exploits ? 

14. Who were some of Ids chief men in the cabinet and in the field ? 

15. What success did Louis meet with? What is related respecting 
the two devastations of the Palatinate ? 

16. What events afterwards took place? What were the consequences 
of Louis's conquests and of his ambition ? 

17. What states united against him in the League of Augsburg? 
What alliance was formed in 1701 ? Against whom had the armies of 
Louis now to contend? What victories did Marlborough and Prince 
Eugene gain ? 

18. What was one of the worst measures of Louis? What was done 
by this act ? What did France lose by it ? 

19. How long was the reign of Louis ? What is said of it? 

20. What is said of the person and manners of Louis ? 

21. What is said of his talents and character? What did he patron- 
ize, and how is his reign regarded? 



Section VI. 

1. Who succeeded Louis XIV. ? For what is the regency of the Duke 
of Orleans remarkable ? 

2. Whom did Louis XV. choose for his minister after coming of age ? 
What is said of the administration of Fleury ? 

3. In what war was France involved after the death of Fleury ? Who 
were the two claimants for the imperial throne? By whom were they 
supported ? Where were the French defeated, and what battle did they 
gain ? How were hostilities terminated ? 

4. What war broke out in 1775 ? How was it terminated? How was 
the remainder of this reign chiefly occupied? 

5. What is said of Louis ? What title was conferred upon him by his 
subjects ? What induced them to retract it ? What is further said of 
him and his reign ? 






FRANCE. 377 

6. "Who succeeded to the throne? What is said of Louis XVI.? 
What were the difficulties of his situation ? 

7. What was one of his first measures? Who were appointed to 
office ? What was the effect ? 

8. What is said of Necker ? What followed after he was displaced ? 

9. What took place after the war broke out between Great Britain and 
her American colonies ? What was the state of affairs after the return 
of peace ? 

10. What were some of the principal causes of the French Revolution ? 
What was the more immediate cause ? 

1 1 . What measure did Louis adopt by the advice of Calonne ? What 
was proposed to the Assembly of the Notables ? How did they receive it ? 

12. By whom was Calonne succeeded? What body was next assem- 
bled ? Of what orders was the States General composed ? 

13. What did Necker propose respecting the States General? What 
was the result ? 

14. How did the king address the States General ? What difficulties 
arose ? 

15. What measure did the commons adopt ? Who were leading mem- 
bers in the National Assembly ? 

16. What is said of their measures? In what situation were the king 
and nobility placed ? 

17. What is said of the dismissal of Necker? What outrages were 
committed ? What is said of the king and royal family ? 

18. What is said of the progress of the revolution and changes which 
were effected ? 

19. What was the next great- design of the Assembly? What is related 
of Louis ? What of the constitution ? 

20. What was the next Assembly styled ? What is related of the Jaco- 
bin Club? 

21 . What new body next met ? What was done at their first sitting ? 
What is related respecting the king ? 

22. What were some of the remarks of Deseze in defence of Louis ? 

23. By what majority was the king condemned? What is further 
related of him ? 



Section VII. 

1. When was the constitution completed, and in what was the executive 
power now lodged? What is the domination of Robespierre and his 
associates styled ? What two parties arose in the National Convention ? 
Who were the leaders ? 

2. What did the Mountain party do ? What is related of the Duke 
of Orleans? 

3. To what further excesses did the Convention proceed? What was 
done to the churches ? 

4. How was the Convention divided anew ? What followed ? In what 
was the executive power afterwards vested ? How many constitutions 
were formed from 1791 to 1799? In whom was the executive power 
vested by the fourth ? 

5. What was the French Revolution at first ? What did it become ? 
What change did it effect ? 

6. What course was taken by many of the nobility and clergy before 
the execution of the king? What was the effect? Of what was this the 
origin ? What states declared war against France after the death of the 
king? 

7. What is said of the Duke of Brunswick ? 

8. What was the issue of the invasion? What advantages did France 

32* 



378 FRANCE. 

gain ? To whom was the command of the army in Italy given ? What 
did Bonaparte accomplish ? 

9. When was the Second Coalition formed? What had Bonaparte 
done before this event ? 

10. What advantages were gained over the French in 1799? What 
did Bonaparte do at this crisis ? 

1 1 . What change now took place in the affairs of France ? 

12. What achievements did Bonaparte then perform? To what events 
did the victories of Marengo and Hohenlinden lead ? 

13. What is said of the limits of France and power qf Bonaparte? 
What measure did the Convention adopt with regard to religion ? 

14. To what office was Bonaparte now raised ? By whom was a con- 
spiracy formed against him ? What became of the conspirators ? What 
were Bonaparte's next elevations ? 

15. When and by what powers was the Third Coalition formed ? What 
course did Bonaparte then take, and with what success ? What followed 
the victory of Austerlitz ? 

16. What victory was gained by Lord Nelson a little before the battle 
of Austerlitz ? 

17. What course did Bonaparte take with regard to Naples and Hol- 
land ? What with respect to the German empire ? What was done 
by Francis II. ? What electors did Bonaparte raise to the rank of kings ? 

18. How and by whom was the Fourth Coalition formed? What 
battles did Bonaparte gain ? What did he do on entering the capital of 
Prussia ? What other battle did the French army gain ? 

19. What were the next proceedings of Bonaparte? What treaties 
were made with Russia and Prussia ? What was done with the provinces 
conquered from Prussia ? 

20. What course did the British government take in retaliation of the 
Berlin Decree ? What was done by the emperor after the peace of Tilsit ? 

21. How did Bonaparte seem to be affected by his success? What did 
he do respecting Spain and Portugal ? 

22. How did he dispose of the throne of Spain ? 

23. What part did the Spaniards take? How long did the war last ? 
Who commanded the forces of England and Spain ? What were some 
of the principal exploits ? 

24. With what empire was France again involved in war ? What suc- 
cesses did Bonaparte gain ? 

25. To what terms was the emperor of Austria compelled to submit 
by the treaty of Vienna ? What followed in consequence of this treaty ? 

26. To what did Alexander accede by the treaty of Tilsit, and what 
were its consequences? How was the year 1811 spent? What measures 
did Bonaparte adopt? 

27. Whither did he direct his march? What events followed ? Why 
was Moscow burnt ? 

28. How did this transaction affect Bonaparte, and what had he ex- 
pected ? What course was he compelled to adopt ? 

29. What is said of his retreat ? What losses were sustained ? 

30. What course did the French emperor pursue ? How large an army 
did he now raise ? By what was he opposed ? 

31. What were the next events? What is said of the battle of Leip- 
sic? 

32. What course did Bonaparte now take? What was done by the 
Allies ? 

33. What measure was Bonaparte now compelled to adopt, and what 
place was fixed upon for his residence ? What followed ? 

34. For what purpose was the Congress of Vienna assembled ? What 
did Bonaparte now undertake ? How did he proceed ? What is said of 
his progress ? 



FRANCE. 379 

35. "What measures did he take to strengthen his authority? 

36. What was done by the Congress of Vienna? What events followed ? 

37. What is said of the battle of Waterloo? What course did Bona- 
parte now take? What was done with him by the allied sovereigns? 
When did Bonaparte die, and at what age ? 

38. What is said of the career of Bonaparte? At what age was he 
raised to his several elevations ? What is said of his power ? 

39. Why may he be called a king-maker ? What is remarked of the last 
four kings ? 

40. What did he unite in his own person ? What is said of his deeds ? 
For what is France indebted to him ? 

41. Of what beneficial measures was he the author? What was his 
ruling passion ? What is said of his opportunity of being useful ? What 
did he choose to be ? 

42. What is further said of him and his career ? 



Section VIII. 

1 . What took place after the second dethronement of Bonaparte ? What 
measures were taken in relation to France ? What relating to the officers 
who sided with Bonaparte ? 

2. What is said of Louis XVIII., his situation, and policy? What was 
one of the principal events of his reign? 

3. Who succeeded Louis XVIII. ? What is said of him ? 

4. By what enterprises was his reign distinguished? 

5. What is said of the contests of parties ? What course did Charles 
take? 

6. What was done by the Chamber of Deputies ? What events followed, 
and what measures were adopted ? 

7. What occurrences then took place ? 

8. What course did the citizens take ? Who commanded the National 
Guards ? What was done by the Chambers ? 

9. What became of Charles ? 

10. What is said of Louis Philippe? What was his course? Who 
were some of his ministers ? 

11. What is said of his foreign policy, and of the condition of France 
during his reign ? What is further said of him, and of his fate ? 

12. What was the most considerable foreign achievement ? 

13. What is said of the state of the country and the feeling of the lower 
classes ? What is said of these classes ? 

14. What classes were favored by the government ? What did these 
classes do for the government ? 

15 What is said of the system of obtaining venal support ? With what 
was the government charged ? What were other causes of dissatisfaction ? 

16. To whom were these offensive measures ascribed ? What impres- 
sion gained ground among the people ? 

17. What occurrence promoted discontent? What course did the oppo- 
nents of the government take ? 

18. When was a Reform Banquet proposed to be held in Paris ? What 
course did the king's ministers take ? What was the result? 

19. What took place on the day the banquet was to have been held? 
What was done by the people ? 

20. What was done on the two following days ? What was done by the 
king, and by Guizot ? 

21. What course was taken by the insurgents ? What followed ? 

22. What was done by the provisional government? What decrees 
were issued ? 



380 ENGLAND. 

23. What was done by the National Assembly ? 

24. What took place in June ? What followed ? 

25. What was done by the National Assembly, after a session of six 
months ? For what does the constitution provide ? 

26. Who was elected President ? By how many votes ? What is said 
of Louis Napoleon ? For what has he been chiefly distinguished ? 

27. When did a new National Assembly commence a session ? How 
have elections resulted ? What has been the course of the government ? 

28. What took place, in 1848, at Rome ? What was done by the French ' 
What did the French army accomplish ? 



Chronological Table of French History. — No. 1. 

Who were the first two kings of the Carlovingian Race ? 
Who was the first of the Capetian Race ? Of the Branch of Valois ? 
When did Charlemagne begin to reign? Hugh Capet? St. Louis? 
Philip VI. ? Francis I. ? 

What is said of Pepin and his reign ? Charlemagne ? &c. 



Chronological Table oe French History. — No. 2. 

Who was the first king of the House of Bourbon ? 
When did Henry IV. begin to reign? Louis XIV.? Louis XVI.? 
Bonaparte ? Louis XVIII. ? Louis Philippe ? 

When did Louis Napoleon become President of the republic of France ? 
When was France first declared a republic ? When the last time ? 
What is said of Henry IV. and his reign ? Louis XIII. ? &c. 



ENGLAND. 

Section I. 

1 . What is said of the history of England ? 

2. What conflicts have been maintained in England ? 

3. Why is the history of England interesting to the citizens of the United 
States ? 

4. Why do we feel an interest in the conflicts which civil and religious 
liberty has had with despotism and bigotry in England ? 

5. When did Julius Csesar invade Britain ? Who defeated Caractacus ? 
By whom was the Roman dominion completely established ? 

6. What sort of people were the Britons at the time of the conquest? 
What were their habits and their religion ? 

7. What three walls did the Romans build across Britain? When did 
they entirely abandon the countiy? 

8. By whom was the southern part of the island afterwards invaded ? 
To whom did the Britons apply for assistance ? What was the result ? 

9. What course did the Saxons take ? From whom is the name of Eng- 
land derived ? 

10. What is related of Arthur ? How long did the Heptarchy subsist ? 
Who united the seven kingdoms into one monarchy ? 

1 1 . How was Christianity introduced ? What was the state of society ? 



ENGLAND. 381 



Section II. 

1. What is related of the Danes ? 

2. What is said of Alfred and of his contest with the Danes'? What 
was he compelled to do ? 

3. What stratagem did he use ? What was his success ? 

4. How did he employ himself after tranquillity was restored'? What 
measures are attributed to him ? 

5. What is said of the character of Alfred ? 

6. By whom was he succeeded ? What is said of Edward? 

7. What is related of Athelstan ? 

8. What is related of Edmund ? Of Edred ? Of Dunstan ? 

9. What is mentioned of Edwy or Edwin ? 

10. For what is the reign of Edgar remarkable ? 

11. By whom was Edgar succeeded ? What is said of Edward ? 

12. What outrage was committed by Ethelred that exasperated the 
Danes ? 

13. What did the Danes accomplish ? Who succeeded Ethelred ? 

14. What took place after the death of Sweyn? What did Canute ac- 
complish ? What is said of him ? 

15. What two other Danish kings succeeded to the throne? 

16. Who was then raised to the throne'? What is said of Edward? 
With what privilege was he said to be favored ? How long was the prac- 
tice of touching for the king's evil, by the English kings, continued ? 

17. To whom did Edward bequeathe the crown? Who was elected by 
the nobility ? 

18. What did William resolve to do? What followed ? What losses 
were sustained ? What was the issue ? 



Section III. 

1 . What is said of William ? What does Mr. Burke say of him ? 

2. In what way did he disgust the English? What changes did he in- 
troduce ? 

3. What did he do by his forest laws ? How did he form the New For- 
est ? What was one of the most useful acts of his reign ? 

4. What is said of William II. and his reign ? 

5. In what way did Henry I. obtain the crown ? What more did he do 
respecting his brother ? 

6. How were the Saxon and Norman families united? What affliction 
did Henry suffer, and what is said of him ? 

7. Who was the rightful heir to the crown after the death of Henry ? 
Who usurped the throne ? What followed ? 

8. What was done by Henry ? What followed ? What is said of Ste- 
phen's reign ? 



Section IV. 

1. What is said of Henry II. ? Why is he called Shortmantle ? What 
did he possess besides England ? 

2. By what had the countries of Europe been agitated ? When did this 
contest reach its height ? What is said of Thomas a Becket ? 

3. What is said of the power of the clergy ? What of their morals ? 

4. What did Henry resolve to do ? What course did he adopt ? What 



382 ENGLAND. 

was enacted in these Constitutions ? What was Becket's course ? What 
was said by Henry ? What was the consequence ? 

5 . What Avas the effect of this transaction ? What was done by the Pope ? 
What followed ? 

6. What penance did Henry do for his offence ? What became of the 
assassins ? 

7. What is said of the latter part of Henry's reign ? What is said of his 
sons ? 

8. What is related of Queen Eleanor? What alienated the queen? 

9. What is said of Henry's attachment to his children ? What did he do 
when he found that his son John had joined the confederacy against him ? 

10. What is said of the character of Henry ? 

1 1 . For what is his reign remarkable ? What is related respecting the 
arts and conveniences of life ? 

12. What is related respecting the magnificence of Becket? 

13. How did Richard I. commence his reign ? With whom did he unite 
in a crusade ? What was achieved ? 

14. What happened to him as he was returning home? How was he 
ransomed ? 

15. What has Richard been styled, and what is said of him ? 

16. What crime is John, Richard's brother and successor, supposed to 
have committed'? What course did Philip Augustus of France take? 
What followed ? 

1 7 . What is related of Pope Innocent III. ? In what way did John make 
peace ? 

18. What was done by the barons ? What followed ? What is said of 
Magna Charta ? What other charter did the king grant ? 

19. What is said of John and his reign ? 

20. What is said of Henry III. and his reign ? 

21. What is said respecting the cause of freedom and the prosperity of 
the nation ? 

22. What was done by the barons ? What measure did the twenty-four 
barons adopt? 

23. What was the effect of this measure ? Where did Leicester defeat 
the royal army ? What did he afterwards do ? Of what was his summon- 
ing deputies from the principal boroughs the commencement ? 

24. What did Prince Edward perform ? What was the issue ? 

25. What did Edward I. do to the Jews ? What did he afterwards ac- 
complish ? What did he create his eldest son ? 

26. What effect had the conquest of Wales on Edward? What took 
place with regard to Scotland ? 

27. What took place in consequence of Baliol's renouncing his allegiance ? 
What did Edward accomplish ? 

28. Who roused the Scots to recover their independence ? What was 
the issue ? What happened to Wallace ? Who was the second Scotch 
champion ? What further was done by Edward ? 

29. What is said of Edward ? What of his reign ? What important 
clause did he add to Magna Charta ? 

30. What enterprise did Edward II. undertake ? What was the issue ? 

31. What is said of Edward ? How was his reign characterized ? 

32. What is said of Isabella ? What was done to the king ? 

33. Who had the chief control during the minority of Edward IH. ? 
What is said of Edward on his coming of age ? What became of Mortimer 
and Isabella ? 

34. What victory did Edward gain over the Scots ? What measure did 
he adopt with regard to France ? 

35 . What naval victory did he gain ? 



ENGLAND. 383 

36. What account is given of the battle of Cressy ? For what is this 
battle memorable ? What further advantage did he gain ? 

37. What took place in England while Edward was in France ? 

38. What account is given of the battle of Poictiers ? What was done 
with King John ? 

39. What is said of Edward in the latter part of his reign ? What is 
mentioned of the Black Prince and of Charles V. of France ? What is 
said of the death of the Black Prince 1 

40. What is said of Edward and his reign ? What is said of his wars ? 

41. What is mentioned respecting chivalry in this reign? 

42. What is said of Richard II. ? To whom was the administration of 
the government intrusted during his minority ? What is said of John of 
Gaunt ? 

43. What tax was imposed, and what was its effect ? What is related 
respecting a tax-gatherer ? What events followed 1 

44. What account is given of the battle of Otterburn ? What ballad is 
founded on this battle 1 

45. What did Richard do respecting his cousin Henry ? How did Henry 
revenge himself 1 What became of the king ? 

46. Who was the true heir to the crown ? What contests followed this 
transaction ? What is said of Chaucer ? 



Section V. 

1. What is said of Henry's situation? What account is given of the 
battle of Shrewsbury ? 

2. What was supposed respecting Henry while a subject ? How did he 
proceed after he came to the throne ? 

3. What is said of Henry and his reign ? 

4. By what was the latter part of his life imbittered ? What is related 
of the Prince of Wales ? 

5. What did the king say respecting the circumstance ? 

6. What course did Henry V. take on succeeding to the throne ? What 
is said of this conduct ? 

7. What account is given of Sir John Oldcastle ? 

8. In what war did Henry engage, and what battle did he gain ? What 
was the loss of the French ? What followed ? 

9. What is said of the reign and character of Henry ? 

10. At what age was Henry VI. proclaimed king of England and France ? 
To whom was his education intrusted, and who were protectors of his do- 
minions ? 

1 1 . What is related of Charles VII. and his success ? 

12. What is said of Henry on coming of age ? Whom did he marry ? 
What is said of her ? 

13. What is related of Jack Cade's rebellion ? 

14. What is mentioned respecting the Duke of Gloucester ? What was 
the consequence of his death ? 

15. What was the origin of the Houses of York and Lancaster? How 
were the parties distinguished, and what were the wars styled ? 

16. What is related of this quarrel? 

17. In what battles were the Lancastrians defeated? What was done 
by the queen ? What did the son and successor of the Duke of York ac- 
complish ? 



384 ENGLAND. 



Section VI. 

1. What battle took place between the two parties, soon after Edward 
IV. was raised to the throne ? How many were slain ? What became of 
Henry ? 

2. What became of the queen ? What is related of her deliverance by a 
robber ? 

3. By whom had the House of York been hitherto supported ? What 
course did the Earl of Warwick take in consequence of Edward's offending 
him ? What followed 1 

4. What was the issue of the battle of Bamet ? Of Tewksbury ? What 
became of the queen and her son 1 

5. What course did Edward afterwards pursue ? What did he do to his 
brother, the Duke of Clarence ? What is said of him ? 

6. Who succeeded to the throne 1 What is related of Richard Duke of 
Gloucester ? What was done with the young princes ? 

7. In whom did Richard HI. find an avenger ? What followed ? What 
was the effect of the battle of Bosworth ? 

8. What is said of the character and person of Richard ? 



Section VII. 

1. How did Henry VII. strengthen his claim to the crown ? What was 
Henry's descent ? What is said of the Tudor family ? 

2. What was the policy of Henry? What was attempted by Lambert 
Simnel ? What by Perkin Warbeck ? What is said of him ? 

3. To what did the adventurers aspire ? What was the destiny of Sim- 
nel ? What of Perkin ? Who was executed near the same time ? 

4. What is said of the character and habits of Henry ? What did he ac- 
cumulate by his frugality and exactions ? 

5. What is said of his reign 1 What was the effect of his regulations ? 

6. What was the consequence of his permitting the nobles to alienate 
their lands ? What was the commencement of the English navy ? 

7. What advantages had Henry VIII. on succeeding to the throne'? 

8. What was the character which he developed ? What does Sir Walter 
Raleigh say of him ? 

9. What is said of his government 2 What of his ministers ? 

10. What became of the treasures which he inherited? What were the 
military operations of his reign ? 

1 1 . How did he obtain the title of Defender of the Faith 1 

12. What are the most memorable transactions of his reign ? Who was 
his first wife ? What is said of this connection ? 

13. What is related of Cardinal Wolsey in relation to this matter? 

14. What course was taken to disannul the marriage ? What afterwards 
took place in England ? 

15. What is remarked respecting the separation of England from the 
Church of Rome ? What course did Henry now pursue ? Who were be- 
headed for refusing to acknowledge his supremacy ? 

16. What was the fate of Anne Boleyn ? Who were Henry's other 
queens, and what was their destiny ? 

17. What three children did Henry leave ? Who succeeded him ? What 
is said of his reign ? What is said of the Reformation ? 

1 8. What is related of Edward ? To whom did he bequeathe the crown ? 

19. By whom was Edward succeeded ? What is said of Mary ? 

20. What is related of Jane Grey and her husband ? 



ENGLAND. 385 

21. What message did Jane Grey send to her husband on the day of 
her execution 9 

22. What course was taken with regard to religion ? Who were some 
of the most eminent martyrs ? What effect was produced by these pro- 
ceedings ? 

23. To whom was Mary married ? What happened in the last year 
of her reign ? What is related respecting her death ? 

24. How was the accession of Elizabeth received'? What is said of 
her reign ? By what names was it illustrated ? 

25. What is related of the changes with respect to religion ? Of 9,000 
clergymen, how many gave up their preferments on the accession of 
Elizabeth ? 

26. With what is Elizabeth charged in her treatment of Mary, Queen 
of Scots ? Who was Mary ? What had she been persuaded to do ? 

27. What had taken place at the period of Mary's return to Scotland'? 

28. What is related of Mary's second and third marriages? What 
effect did her conduct produce ? 

29. What course did Mary then take ? What was her fate ? 

30. How did Elizabeth offend Philip II. of Spain? How did he at- 
tempt to avenge himself? 

31. Of what did the Armada consist ? By what force and what com- 
manders was it met ? What was the result ? 

32. By what eminent statesmen was Elizabeth assisted? Who were 
her chief personal favorites ? 

33. What is said of the close of her life ? To what has her unhappiness 
been ascribed ? What anecdote is related respecting Essex ? 

34. What is said of Elizabeth and her public character ? What were 
her three leading maxims of policy ? What is further said of her reign 
and character? 

35. What is said of her private character, manners, &c. ? 



Section VIII. 

1. Whom did Elizabeth nominate for her successor? What title did 
James assume ? What is said of the Stuart family ? 

2. What conspiracy was formed against James ? What is related of 
Sir Walter Raleigh ? 

3. What was the design of the Gunpowder Plot? Who was taken 
with matches in his pocket ? 

4. What was James's characteristic weakness 1 ? Who were his chief 
favorites ? 

5. When did the Puritans first make their appearance? For what 
were they advocates ? Were their hopes realized on the accession of 
James ? What settlement did they begin ? 

6. What was James's leading characteristic? What was his favor- 
ite topic ? What was the best part of his character ? 

7. What is said of his private character, talents, and manners ? What 
does Bishop Burnet say of him ? 

8. What circumstances had conspired to diffuse the spirit of liberty ? 
How was the current of public opinion directed ? 

9. Under what circumstances did Charles I. ascend the throne? What 
was the state of feeling of many of his subjects ? Of what did he soon 
give proof? Whom did he marry ? 

10. Why did Charles visit Madrid? What was the result? Why 
was Charles offended with the Parliament ? What course did he pursue ? 

1 1 . What taxes did he levy ? How was the tax of ship-money levied ? 
What did Charles claim ? What is said of this tax ? 

33 



386 ENGLAND. 

12. Who opposed this tax? How was the cause decided? 

13. Who were Charles's chief counsellors after the assassination of 
Buckingham ? What course did Laud pursue ? 

14. What measure did the king undertake with respect to Scotland? 
What effect did it produce ? What took place at one of the churches 
in Edinburgh ? 

15. What success did the prelates meet with in other parts? What 
is said of the National Covenant ? What other bond was formed ? 

16. When, after eleven years' intermission, the king convoked a Par- 
liament, what measures did the House of Commons adopt ? What was 
done by a Parliament afterwards assembled ? 

17. How had Charles already violated the privileges of Parliament ? 
Into what act of greater indiscretion was he afterwards betrayed ? What 
answer did Lenthal, the Speaker, make, when the king ordered him to 
point out the five men ? 

18. How did the king then proceed? What was now the feeling of 
the Parliament towards him ? 

19. By whom, in the civil war, was the cause of the king supported? 
By whom that of the Parliament? What were the supporters of each 
styled ? 

20. What formed the characteristic of most of the leaders in Parlia- 
ment? On whom did the charge of license and excess chiefly fall? 
What is remarked by Mr. Baxter ? 

21. How long was it since England had been but little engaged in 
war? Who were the chief commanders in the royal army? Who in 
the Parliamentary army ? What two men were killed in an early part 
of the contest? In what battles had the royalists the advantage? In 
what ones were they defeated ? 

22. What happened to the king? What measure was adopted re- 
specting him ? What sentence was passed ? 

23 What is said of Charles on this occasion, and how did he conduct 
himself? 

24. What lesson does the fate of Charles furnish? What is said of 
the feelings of the people respecting his execution ? What has been the 
effect of it on his reputation ? 

25. What were the misfortunes of Charles's condition? What was 
his^greatest defect ? 

26. What is said of his talents, private character, and manners ? 

27. What is said of the proceedings of Charles? What does Mr. 
Hume say respecting the Puritans ? 

28. What is said of those who opposed the king? 

29. What measures were adopted after the death of the king? 

30. What was done respecting episcopacy? Who soon after gained 
the ascendency? To what body was the power transferred from the 
Parliament ? Of whom was that part of the Parliament called the Bump 
composed ? 

31. What course was adopted by the Parliament of Scotland? Where 
did Cromwell defeat the royalist Covenanters ? What account is given 
of the battle of Worcester ? 

32. What adventures did young Charles meet with ? 

33. What is said of the Navigation Act? Of what war was this act 
the cause ? How did this war terminate, and who took a distinguished 
part in it ? 

34. How many years had the Long Parliament been in session? 
What course did it adopt ? What did Cromwell resolve upon ? What 
did he do while in a council of officers ? 

35. What was his next proceeding ? 

36. In what manner was the Little Parliament assembled? What is 
Baid of it ? 



ENGLAND. 387 

37. What title did Cromwell assume at the dissolution of the Little 
Parliament ? What is further related of him ? 

38. How did he administer the government ? What is said of his reign 
and the state of England ? How did he pass the latter part of life ? 

39. What is said of his talents and career ? 

40. To what did he owe his elevation 1 ? What is said of the officers 
and soldiers 1 How did Cromwell manage while toiling up the ascent 
to greatness ? 

41. To what has the name of Cromwell been subjected'? What is 
said of the treatment he has received from history ? Why is it so ? 

42. What is said of his private character ? 

43. What is said of Richard Cromwell'? What was done by General 
Monk ? When was Charles II. restored ? 

44. How did the nation suffer him to assume the crown ? What do 
his reign and that of James II. exhibit 1 What is said of the new king ? 

45. What change now took place ? What measures were adopted 
respecting the regicides ? What principles and doctrines came in vogue ? 
What acts were passed respecting religion ? 

46. What was done with Dunkirk? With what nation did Charles 
engage in war ? What calamities visited London ? 

47. Why did the government become unpopular? On whom was 
the odium cast ? What were the five ministers, who conducted the 
government after Clarendon was banished, termed ?, 

48. What was the religion of Charles and James ? For what purpose 
did Charles receive a pension from Louis XIV. of France ? What is said 
of the latter part of Charles's reign ? 

49. Whose execution was occasioned by the pretended Popish Plot? 
What is said of the Rye-House Plot ? 

50. What was the character of the court? How was the reign char- 
acterized ? What is said of Charles II. ? 

51. What is said of James II. and his reign? What course did he 
take on assuming the government? Who were his counsellors, and 
what did he attempt to do ? 

52. What is related of the Duke of Monmouth? How were those 
who favored him treated ? What is related of Jeffreys ? 

53. How did James succeed in his designs ? What act of his roused 
the general indignation? Who was invited to England to assume the 
government ? 

54. What followed ? What was done by the Convention-Parliament ? 
What is this event styled?" 

55. What was now done respecting the British constitution? What 
regulations were made respecting religion ? What are some of the most 
important articles in the declaration of the rights of the subject? 

56. What is related of Archbishop Sancroft, &c? What were they 
styled ? 

"57. What course did Ireland adopt? Where was James defeated by 
William ? What naval battle was fought ? What peace followed ? 

58. What is said of William ? What is said of Mary his queen ? 

59. Who succeeded William ? What is said of Anne ? For what wa3 
her reign distinguished ? 

60. What states united in an alliance against France ? Who were the 
commanders of the allied army ? What victories did the Allies gain ? 
When was the war terminated ? 

61. What is said of the constitutional union between England and 
Scotland ? 

62. When did the party names of Whigs and Tories first become 
common? What is said of the two parties? Who advocated the ac- 
cession of William and Mary ? What is said of the state of parties 
during the reign of Anne ? 



388 ENGLAND. 



Section IX. 

1 . Who succeeded Anne ? What is said of George I. ? To what are 
some faults in his government attributed 1 

2. What change took place in the names of the two parties ? Who were 
favored by George ? What part did the Tories take ? 

3. What is related of the South-Sea Scheme ? 

4. What is said of George II., and of the court? What is said of his 
partialities in favor of his continental dominions ? 

5 . What is related of Sir Robert Walpole ? 

6. What is said of the military operations of this reign ? Who succeeded 
to the dominions of Charles VI., emperor of Germany ? Who asserted 
his claim to the throne ? 

7. To what war did this give rise ? What battle did the Allies gain, and 
in what were they routed ? How was the contest decided ? 

8. What took place in Britain while George II. was on the Continent ? 
Where did the Pretender defeat the royal forces 2 Where was he finally 
defeated ? 

9. What advantages did the British gain over the French in America ? 
By what were they followed ? 

10. What is said of Great Britain during the reign of George II. % What 
is said respecting the national debt ? 

11. In what circumstances did George III. commence his reign? How 
was the war with France closed ? 

12. What is said of William Pitt ? What was the consequeuce of the 
oppressive measures respecting the American Colonies ? 

13. What were the other most important events during the reign of 
George III. ? 

14. What is said of the French revolution? What course did the gov- 
ernment of Great Britain take ? 

15. Who devised the system of operations ? What is said of this war? 
What were some of the victories gained by the British ? 

16. What is said of the reign of George III. ? What was his condition 
during the last ten years of his life ? What is said of George III. ? 

17. By whom was George III. succeeded ? What is said of his character 
and his course ? 

18. What bill was introduced into the House of Lords ? What was the 
result ? 

19. What is stated in relation to the Greeks ? 

20. What is said of the Corporation and Test Act ? By what was this 
repeal followed ? What was the effect ? What other improvements in the 
laws are mentioned ? 

21. By whom was George IV. succeeded ? What took place soon after 
his accession ? What was the state of feeling in England ? What subject 
had been long agitated in England ? What was done by the Duke of 
Wellington ? What was the consequence ? 

22. What was done by Lord John Russell ? What was the result ? What 
is said of the measure ? 

23 . What important acts were passed by the first reformed parliament ? 

24. By whom was William IV. succeeded ? 



Chronological Table of the History of England. — No. 1. 

Who was the first king of the Saxon Family ? Who were the Danish 
kings ? Who was the first of the Norman Family ? The Plantagenet ? 
The Branch of Lancaster ? The Branch of York ? 



EUROPEAN STATES. 389 

When did Egbert begin to reign 1 Canute ? William the Conqueror 1 
Henry II. 1 Edward III. ? Henry V. ? 

What is said of Egbert or his reign ? Alfred 1 William the Conqueror 1 
&c. 



Chronological Table of the History of England. — No. 2. 

What kings were of the House of Tudor ? Stuart 1 Brunswick 1 
When did Henry VII. begin to reign 1 Henry VEIL? Edward VI. ? &c. 
How long did Henry VII. reign ? Henry VIII. ? Edward VI. ? &c. 
What is said respecting Henry VII. or his reign 'I Henry VIII. 1 &c. 



Chronological Table of English Literature. 

What statesmen and commanders flourished in the 16th century 1 The 
17th? &c 

What poets flourished in the 16th century? What divines ? The 17th 1 
&c. 



EUROPEAN STATES. 

Scotland. 

1. What is said of the pretensions of Scotland to a regular succession of 
kings from the time of Alexander the Great 1 What were the principal 
tribes that anciently inhabited Scotland 1 Who was the first king of all 
Scotland ? 

2. In whose reign did the most memorable contests happen between 
Scotland and the kings of England ? Who were Edward's antagonists 1 
In what battle did Robert Bruce defeat the English ? 

3. What took place in 1603 ? What in 1706 ? 



Germany. 

1. Into what three monarchies was the Empire of the West divided in 
843 1 What afterwards took place 1 What two sovereigns governed Ger- 
many in the 10th century ? 

2. For what is the reign of Henry IV. remarkable ? To what factions 
did the election of Conrad III. give rise ? To whom were the Ghibelines, 
and to whom the Guelphs attached 1 

3. By what was the reign of Frederick Barbarossa signalized ? By what 
was the reign of Conrad IV. followed 1 Who was elected emperor after 
the Great Interregnum 1 

4. What is said of the principal events in the history of tbe latter em- 
perors of the Franconian line and those of the Swabian line ? What were 
the grounds of these contests ? 

5. What quarrel took place between Louis IV. and Pope John XXII. ? 
What was determined by the Pragmatic Sanction ? 

6. For what is the reign of Sigismund memorable 1 Who were burnt 
by the Council of Constance ? What was done by the adherents of Huss 
and Jerome in Bohemia 1 

7. What is related of Maximilian 1. 1 

8. What emperor was the most powerful sovereign of his age ? What is 
related of Charles V. ? What is said of the Reformation ? 

33* 



390 EUROPEAN STATES. 

9. By what were the reigns of Ferdinand II. and Ferdinand III. signal- 
ized ? What account is given of this war ? How did it issue ? 

10. What took place on the death of Charles VI. 1 How was the war 
of the Austrian Succession terminated 1 

11. When and how did the German empire terminate 1 

12. When was the imperial government hereditary 1 How was it after- 
wards ? What was the mode of election at first ? How afterwards 1 

13. What took place in 1848 ? 



AUSTRIA. 

1. When was Austria erected into an empire ? What is said of it ? 

2. What effect did the French revolution of 1848 produce at Vienna? 
What was done by the Emperor Ferdinand ? 

3. What took place in the Austrian dominions in Italy ? 

4. What is related respecting Hungary 1 

5. What was done by the emperor of Eussia ? What was the issue ? 

6. What measure was taken by the emperor of Austria in 1849 1 



Spain. 

1 . By whom was Spain invaded in the 5th century 1 What took place 
in the 8 th century ? 

2. What was done by the Moors 1 What was accomplished by Abder- 
rahman in 755 1 What is said of the Moorish states ? 

3. What course did the Gothic or Christian forces pursue ? What does 
the history of Spain present ? 

4. What Christian kingdoms were formed 1 How did the kingdoms of 
Castile, Leon, and Arragon become united ? 

5. What is said of the reign of Ferdinand and Isabella ? 

6. What is said of Spain during the reigns of Charles I. and Philip n. 1 
What has since taken place 1 When was the most flourishing period of 
Spanish literature ? 

7. What took place in 1808 ? What was the result 1 

8. What took place in relation to Spain from 1811 to 1821 ? What has 
been the condition of Spain since 1 



Portugal. 

1. What is related of the early history of Portugal ? 

2. How was Henry, Duke of Burgundy, rewarded for his services to Al- 
phonso, king of Castile ? What did his son and successor Alphonso ac- 
complish ? 

3. For what is the reign of John I. famous ? 

4. For what were the reigns of John II. and Emanuel distinguished ? 
What was done during their reigns ? What took place with respect to 
trade after the discovery of a passage to India round the Cape of Good 
Hope 1 Who first shared with the Portuguese the navigation of the Cape ? 

5. What is said of the period from John I. to the conquest of Portugal 
by Philip n. of Spain? 

6. What took place in 1580 ? When were the Spaniards expelled ? 

7. What is said of the discovery and colonization of Brazil ? 

8. What took place in 1807 ? What measure was adopted with respect 
to Brazil ? What happened in 1826 ? 



EUROPEAN STATES. 391 



The Netherlands. 

1. What was the situation of the Netherlands in the Middle Ages ? What 
is said of the country in the 15th century ? 

2. To whom did Charles V. resign these provinces 1 What afterwards 
took place respecting them ? 

3. What is said of the prosperity of the Dutch Provinces ? 

4. What measure was adopted in relation to the Seventeen Provinces by 
the Congress of Vienna ? How long did this union last ? 

5. What took place in 1830 1 What was the result ? 



Poland. 

1. When and by whom was Christianity introduced into Poland '? When 
was the monarchy in its most nourishing state ? 

2. What is related of Casimir III. ? What took place in the latter part 
of the 14 th century 1 

3. Under whose reign did the kingdom rise to its greatest height 1 What 
took place afterwards 1 

4. By whom and when was Poland conquered and partitioned ? 

5. What was done after the peace of Tilsit in 1807 ? What in 1815 % 

6. What is said of the Grand Duke Constantine % What took place in 
1830 1 

7. What is related of the Emperor Nicholas 1 



Sweden. 

1. What did Sweden and Norway anciently form ? What took place in 
the latter part of the 14th century ? What followed 1 

2. What is related of Gustavus Vasa % 

3. What is said of Gustavus Adolphus and his reign 1 

4. What is said of Charles XII. ? What was his career 1 

5. What is related of Gustavus IV. % By whom was he succeeded ? By 
what has the loss of Finland been repaired 1 

6. What took place on the death of Charles XIII. % 



Denmark. 

1. To whom did the crown of Denmark fall in 1448? What is said 
respecting the monarchy ? 

2. With whom was Denmark engaged in war in the beginning of the 
1 8th century ? How long afterwards did the country enjoy peace ? 

3. What was the condition of the kingdom during the reigns of Christian 
VI. and Frederick V. 1 By what statesman was the latter assisted ? 

4. Whom did Christian VII. marry ? What is said of Matilda ? 

5. By whom was Copenhagen attacked in 1801 1 What was the pre- 
tence for bombarding it in 1807 1 How large a fleet was surrendered to the 
British 1 

6. What took place in 1848 1 



Prussia. 

1. By whom was the foundation of Prussian greatness laid ? What is 
related of his successor 1 



392 EUROPEAN STATES. 

2. What is said of Frederick II. ? 

3. Against whom did Frederick declare war in 1756? How was the 
contest carried on, and how terminated ? What was the only gainful result 
of this sanguinary struggle ? 

4. What did Frederick afterwards do ? What is said of him ? 

5. What did the king of Prussia lose hy war with the French ? What 
course did he take in 1813 ? What did he gain by the treaty of Vienna 1 ? 
What is said of the condition of Prussia since ? 

6. By whom was Frederick William succeeded? How has his reign 
been characterized ? What has been done ? 



Russia. 

1 . What is said of the importance of Russia ? What is related of Peter 
the Great ? 

2. What is said of Catharine H. ? What further is related of her char- 
acter and exploits ? 

3. By whom was Catharine succeeded? What is said of Alexander? 

4. By what has the reign of Nicholas been distinguished ? When was 
the war against Turkey declared ? What is related of it, and how did it 
terminate ? 

5. What took place in 1830 ? What followed ? 

6. What was done by the emperor in 1848 ? What is said of Russia? 



Rome. 

1. When did the temporal power of the pope commence ? When did it 
attain its zenith ? 

2. What is said of the first half of the 16th century ? What is related 
of Popes Julius II. and Leo X. ? What took place during the pontificate of 
the latter ? How has the power of the pope since been diminished ? 

3. What was done by Bonaparte in 1809 ? What was done by the Con- 
gress of Vienna ? 

4. What is said of the Roman government ? What of Pius IX. ? 

5. What took place at Rome after the French revolution of 1848 ? 

6. What was accomplished at Rome by the French? 



Turkey. 

1. What are the Turks ? What is the first notice of them in history ? 
By whom were their dominions united ? 

2. What conquest was made by Amurath ? What by Bajazet ? What 
by Mahomet II. ? 

3. How did the Turks afterwards succeed? What countries were con- 
quered by Selim ? What is said of the reign and exploits of Solyman the 
Magnificent ? 

4. With whom have the Turks been engaged in war since the time of 
Solyman ? 

5. By what has the Turkish power been lately weakened? 

6. When did the Greeks revolt ? What took place afterwards ? What 
was done in 1828 and 1832 ? 



AMERICA. 393 



Sovereigns op Germany, Spain, Sweden, Prussia, and Russia. 

When did Charles V. of Germany begin to reign ? Ferdinand and Isa- 
bella of Spain ? Gustavus Vasa of Sweden ? Frederick I. of Prussia ? 
Peter I. of Russia ? Francis of Austria ? 

Who were the emperors of Austria in the 16th century, &c. 



Table of Italian, French, Spanish, German, &c, Literature. 

What distinguished men did Italy produce in the 14th century ? In the 
15th? &c. 

Remarks on the Table. 

What is said of Italy respecting the revival of learning ? Who were 
some of the distinguished men ? 

What is said of France ? What was the most brilliant period of French 
literature ? Who were some of the most eminent men ? What is related 
of Spain? Germany? Sweden? Holland? 



AMERICA. 

1. What is said of the discovery of America ? What were some of the 
effects of this discovery ? 

2. To whom is the world indebted for this discovery ? What is related 
of Columbus ? 

3. What did he conceive was necessary in order to complete the balance 
of the terraqueous globe ? 

4. How was the merchandise of India conveyed to Europe before the 
passage round the Cape of Good Hope was known ? For what purpose 
did Columbus undertake his voyage of discovery ? 

5. To whom did he apply in succession for assistance ? From whom 
did he gain some favor after seven years' solicitation ? With what was he 
provided for the expedition ? What appointment did he obtain ? 

6. From what place and when did he sail ? How did he proceed ? 

7. What circumstance alarmed both him and his men ? How did he 
manage ? What took place thirty days after ? How far was he compelled 
to yield to his crew ? 

8. When did Columbus first discover a light ? What satisfaction did 
the crew now make to Columbus ? 

9. What island was first discovered ? What islands were discovered 
afterwards ? Why did he name these islands the West Indies ? 

10. What did he procure before he set sail for Spain ? What happened 
during the voyage ? What method did he take to preserve an account of 
his discovery ? What favorable occurrence took place ? Whither did he 
proceed ? 

11. When did Columbus discover the continent of South America? 
What was caused by his successes ? What was done to Columbus ? What 
did he say when the captain offered to release him from his fetters ? 

12. What did he afterwards do with his fetters ? 

13. What was the feeling upon Columbus's arriving thus in Spain ? How 
was he treated ? 

14. How did Columbus obtain command over the Indians in his fourth 
voyage ? What afterwards happened to him ? What is said of his funeral ? 
What inscription was engraved on his tomb ? 



394 THE UNITED STATES. 

15. By whom was Columbus deprived of the honor of giving his name 
to the continent 1 What did Americus claim 1 What is said of this act 
of injustice 1 

16. Who first sailed to India round the Cape of Good Hope? What is 
said of this enterprise ? What is related of Magellan ? 

17. When and by whom was the continent of North America first dis- 
covered 1 

18. What land was first seen 1 Which way did they proceed 1 In what 
manner did they take possession of the country 1 

19. When and with what force did Cortes invade Mexico ? How were 
his men armed ? With what else was he furnished 1 

20. What was his first course ? How was he received by Montezuma ? 
How did Cortes requite his hospitality ? What followed ? 

21. What assistance did Cortes obtain '? What was the success of the 
Spaniards ? 

22. When did the Spaniards form a settlement at Panama ? With what 
force did Pizarro sail from this place in order to conquer Peru 1 

23. In what manner did he proceed with the Inca Atabalipa 1 

24. What did Atabalipa do in order to procure his release ? To what 
did this treasure amount, and what was done with it 1 What was then 
done to the inca 1 

25. How did the Spanish chiefs then proceed ? What followed ? 

26. What is said of the Peruvians and Mexicans 1 What arts did they 
understand 1 In what did the Peruvians excel ? What is said of their 
religion 1 

27. What was done, in 1524, by Francis I. of France 1 ? What is related 
of James Cartier ? 

28. What enterprise was performed by Sir Walter Kaleigh 1 What 
took place on his return to England 1 

29. What Englishmen made unsuccessful attempts to settle Virginia 1 

30. By what right did Europeans take possession of the parts of America 
which they visited ? How were the original inhabitants treated ? Who 
set this example ? How did he proceed ? 

31. What was done by the popes? What was held out as the chief 
reason for taking possession of America ? Of what was tliis made the 
pretext 1 

32. By what were the Spaniards stimulated ? What is said of their 
passion for gold 1 How were the Indians treated 1 What was the result ? 

33. By whom was this cruelty condemned 1 Where did the colonists 
look for a supply of laborers 1 What is said of them ? 

34. When and by whom was the first importation of negroes from Africa 
made 1 What has been since done 1 



THE UNITED STATES. 

Section I. 

1 . To what are nations inclined to lay claim ? How is it with regard to 
the people of this country 1 What is said of the early history and growth 
of this country ? 

2. What is said of the first settlers, and of what were they the advocates ? 
What circumstances have favored their growth ? With whom have their 
political and commercial relations connected them 1 

3. In what did the colonization of this country originate 1 What Colonies 
were peopled by these causes ? 

4. What were their early condition and sufferings ? What was the ul- 
timate issue 1 



THE UNITED STATES. 395 

5. When did the crown of England grant the charter under which the 
first effectual English settlements were made in North America 1 What 
two companies were Constituted ? What territories were assigned to them ? 

6. When and by whom was the first effectual attempt to form a settle- 
ment 1 Where was it begun ? How was the government administered ? 

7. Who was the first president 1 Who was chosen the second year ?• 
What is related of Smith ? 

8. In what contests were the colonists involved 1 What provocations had 
the Indians before received ? 

9. What happened to Captain Smith 1 Before what chief was he carried ? 

10. What measures were taken respecting him ? By whose influence 
was he delivered 1 

1 1 . What service did Pocahontas, two years after, perform for the colo- 
nists ? What is further related of her 1 

12. What diminution did the colonists suffer in a few months ? What 
did their number amount to at the end of the year ? 

13. To what sufferings were the colonists afterwards subjected ? 

14. What was the effect of this famine ? What course did those who 
survived it, take ? What induced them to remain 1 

15. What was the number of colonists at the end of twelve years 1 What 
addition was made in 1619 "? What is said of the planters ? What method 
was adopted for supplying them with wives 1 What price was paid for a 
wife ? What was the commencement of slavery ? 

16. What plot was concerted against the colonists in 1622 ? How many 
of them were put to death ? What calamities followed the massacre ? 
What number of inhabitants did the colony contain in 1624 ? 

17. By what other circumstances did the colony suffer'? What is said 
of Sir William Berkeley and his administration ? To what did the restric- 
tions on the trade of the colony give rise ? What was the consequence ? 

18. What was the population in 1660? What was the increase in the 
28 succeeding years ? With what views did the first adventurers come ? 
To what did they turn their attention in 1616 1 What use was made of 
tobacco ? 

19. By whom and when was Hudson's River discovered ? When and 
where were the first permanent settlements made by the Dutch ? What 
were the country and the settlement on Manhattan Island named 1 

20. Who were the three successive Dutch governors 1 To what did the 
extension of the English settlements give rise ? 

21. To whom did Charles II. of England grant the country'? What 
afterwards took place ? 

22. Where did the Plymouth Company commence an unsuccessful set- 
tlement 1 By whom was the name of the country changed ? To whom 
was a patent granted by King James 1 Between what degrees of latitude 
did the countiy granted lie ? 

23. When and by whom was the first permanent settlement begun in 
New England 1 Why were they called Puritans 1 Of whose congregation 
did they form a part ? 

24. To what country had they before fled ? Why did they come to Amer- 
ica % What is said of the principle of toleration at this period ? 

25. To what river did they propose to sail 1 What was the first land 
that they discovered 1 When did they land at Plymouth 1 

26. To what sufferings were they subjected ? 

27. What kind of government did they institute'? Who were the first 
two governors'? What articles of food did they raise? How was their 
property for several years held ? 

28. What method did they adopt to protect themselves against the In- 
dians 1 What is related of Samoset ? What of Massasoit ? How long 
was the treaty made with him observed ? 



396 THE UNITED STATES. 

29. When and by whom was the Colony of Massachusetts Bay begun ? 
By whom were Boston and other places near it first settled ? 

30. What is mentioned respecting the first settlements in New Hamp- 
shire ? How long did they continue annexed to Massachusetts ? 

31. When and where was the Colony of Connecticut commenced ? The 
Colony of New Haven ? When were these united ? 

32. When, where, and by whom was the settlement of Bhode Island 
commenced ? 

33. What is said of the attention of the colonists to religion and learning ? 
How long after the first settlement of Massachusetts Bay was it before Har- 
vard College was founded ? 

34. For what virtues were the colonists distinguished ? 

35. On what subjects were their views narrow ? What is related of their 
principles and habits. 

36. In what way did the colonists get possession of the land ? How had 
the Indians been treated by Europeans ? 

37. What is related of Captain Standish and of Mr. Eobinson ? What 
Colonies suffered little from the Indians for many years ? What is related 
respecting the Colony of Connecticut ? What was the issue of this contest ? 

38. What measure did the four Colonies of Massachusetts Bay, Ply- 
mouth, Connecticut, and New Haven, adopt to promote their security and 
welfare ? How many delegates were elected by each ? What is said of 
this union ? 

39. What was the most destructive Indian war in which the Colonies 
were ever engaged ? What is said of Philip ? 

40. What did the Indians determine to do ? What measure was adopted ? 

41 . What was the immediate cause of war ? What next took place ? 

42. How were hostilities conducted ? What is the greatest battle called ? 
Where was it fought ? Who commanded the colonists ? What was the 
loss on each side ? 

43. What was the condition of the Indians after this defeat ? What 
happened to Philip ? What is said of his death ? In what wars were the 
colonists afterwards annoyed by the Indians ? 

44. To what was the English population of these Colonies at this time 
computed to amount? What losses were sustained ? How many build- 
ings and towns were destroyed ? 

45. Who was the founder of Maryland ? Where did he first project a 
settlement ? From whom was the country named ? By whom was Lord 
Baltimore succeeded ? 

46. Who was appointed the first governor? When and where did he 
begin a settlement ? What measures were pursued ? 

47. To whom was the country of Pennsylvania granted ? Why was it 
granted to Penn ? When and with whom did he arrive ? 

48. What did he make the basis of his institutions ? How did he man- 
age in his intercourse with the Indians ? 

49. How long were the treaties preserved inviolate ? 

50. What is said of the prosperity of this colony ? What inducements 
were held out to settlers ? 

51. What were the first civil communities in which the free toleration of 
religion was recognized ? 

Section II. 

1. What sovereigns had hitherto occupied the throne of England since 
the commencement of the Colonies ? What was the effect of their princi- 
ples ? With what were the Colonies alarmed ? 

2. What was done by Edward Eandolph in order to destroy the liberties 
of New England ? 



THE UNITED STATES. 397 

3. Who was appointed by James II. governor of New England ? What 
measure did Sir Edmund Andros adopt ? What was done with the char- 
ters ? How did Sir Edmund then proceed 1 

4. What took place in England at this time ? How was the news of the 
Revolution of 1688 received in this country ? What measures were adopted 
by the Colonies ? 

5. What was done with regard to the Colonies of Massachusetts Bay and 
Plymouth % 

6. How were the magistrates under the old charter elected? What 
change was made by the new charter ? Who was appointed the first gov- 
ernor ? 

7. To what evils did the revolution in England subject the Colonies ? 
How long did the war during the reign of William last ? How long did 
that during the reign of Anne continue ? 

8. How much of the time, for 25 years preceding the peace of Utrecht, 
had the country been exempted from war 1 What number of the inhabit- 
ants were in actual service ? What was the condition of the rest ? What 
was the state of the country ? 

9. How many young men, belonging to New England and New York, 
are supposed to have been lost in the public service ? 

10. When did another war break out between Great Britain and France ? 
By what was this war rendered memorable in America 1 What is said of 
Louisburg ? 

1 1 . How many troops had General Pepperell ? By whom was he joined ? 
What was the issue ? 

12. What effect did the news of this achievement of the Colonies have 
on the government of France ? What armament was sent by the French 
to America ? What was the object of it ? 

13. What disasters happened to this fleet ? 

14. What became of the ships that remained % What was done with 
Louisburg at the peace of Aix-la-Chapelle ? 

15. Who claimed the country watered by the Mississippi and its tribu- 
taries ? What measures did the French take with regard to it, in the suc- 
ceeding period of peace ? 

16. What grant was obtained by the Ohio Company 1 What course did 
the French take with respect to the traders I 

17. What measures were adopted by the Company and by the Colony of 
Virginia ? Who was sent to the French commandant % 

18. What course was taken by the British government ? What warlike 
preparations were made ? 

19. On what expedition was General Braddock sent? What did his 
force amount to ? What is said of Braddock and his fate 1 What loss 
was sustained ? What is related of Washington 1 

20. By whom and where was General Johnson met in his expedition 
against Crown Point 1 What was the issue ? What is said of the expedi- 
tion against Niagara and Fort Frontenac ? 

21. How long was the war carried on before a formal declaration was 
made ? Who succeeded Dieskau ? Who had the chief command of the 
English troops ? What is said of the commanders, and of the campaign 1 
By whose means was a favorable change effected ? 

22. What measure was pursued by Mr. Pitt ? What number of men 
was brought into the service? What three expeditions were resolved 
on? 

23. What forces and what commanders were sent against Louisburg ? 

What was the issue ? 

24. What was the result of the attack on Ticonderoga by Abercrombie ? 
What was done by Colonel Bradstreet and General Forbes ? 

25. To whom was the chief command given after the disaster at Ticon- 

34 



398 THE UNITED STATES. 

deroga? "What was the object of the campaign of 1759? What three 
divisions were now made of the British army ? 

26. What was the success of the expeditions against Ticonderoga, Crown 
Point, and Niagara ? 

27. To whom was the expedition against Quebec intrusted? What is 
said of this place ? What effect had the difficulties of the enterprise on the 
English general ? With what force did he approach the city ? 

28. What enterprise did he accomplish during the night? What was 
the issue of the battle that followed ? 

29. What is related of Wolfe on his viewing the engagement, after he 
had received a fatal wound ? What is said of Montcalm ? 

30. By what was this battle followed ? What was done by the 
peace of Paris in 1763 ? How did the success of this war affect the 
Colonies ? 



Section III. 

1 . What is said of the colonists ? Why did emigrants leave England ? 
How did they regard the parent country ? 

2. What was their condition at the peace of 1763 ? 

3. What troubles assailed them after the conquest of Canada had freed 
them from the hostilities of the French and Indians ? 

4. What had been the effect of the war which Great Britain had carried 
on in defence of her American possessions ? What was the pretext for 
taxing the Colonies ? 

5. What was maintained respecting this matter by the Colonies ? What 
did they maintain was a right of British subjects ? 

6. What measures were adopted by parliament in 1764? How were 
these proceedings regarded by the Colonies ? 

7. What act was passed the next year ? On what did the Stamp Act 
lay a duty ? What was done by the Assembly of Virginia ? What by 
Massachusetts ? 

8. What took place in Boston when the news of the Stamp Act arrived ? 
What in New York ? What was done by the merchants ? 

9. When and where did a Colonial Congress meet ? What measure did 
this Congress adopt ? What was done by the merchants ? What was 
the issue respecting the Stamp Act ? What was done by parliament after 
a change in the British cabinet ? 

10. What act was passed by parliament in 1767 ? What was done to 
render the act effectual ? What was another arbitrary measure of parlia- 
ment ? 

11. What were now the feelings of the Americans ? What affray took 
place on the 5th of March ? How was the funeral of the deceased con- 
ducted ? What was the result of the trial of Captain Preston and his sol- 
diers ? 

12. Who was appointed prime minister of England in 1770 ? What did 
the British ministry intend to do by retaining the duty of three pence on 
tea ? What were the Americans determined to do ? What is said of the 
year 1771? 

13. What was done in 1772 by the representatives of Massachusetts? 
What by the inhabitants of Boston and the towns generally ? 

14. What was done with the tea in New York and Philadelphia ? In 
Boston ? 

15. What place was considered the chief seat of rebellion? What was 
the act called the Boston Port Bill ? What was its effect ? 

16. With what authority did General Gage arrive in Boston? What 
soon followed ? 



THE UNITED STATES. 399 

17. What measures were adopted in Massachusetts to prepare for the 
contest ? 

18. What was done by the General Court of Massachusetts ? 

19. When and where did the Continental Congress meet? Of whom 
was this Congress composed ? What measures did they adopt ? 

20. What is said of the power of Great Britain ? What was the condi- 
tion of the Colonies ? By what were their operations especially embar- 
rassed ? How was their resolution to engage in the contest regarded in 
England ? 

21 . What was done when the proceedings of the Congress were laid before 
parliament ? To what number was the British army increased ? 

22. What was the purport of Lord North's conciliatory proposition ? What 
was the design of it ? How was it received ? 

23. For what object did General Gage send a party of troops to Salem ? 
Who were sent to seize the military stores at Concord ? What account is 
given of the affair at Lexington ? 

24. What was done by the British troops after having dispersed the mi- 
litia at Lexington ? What took place on their return ? 

25. What was now done by the Americans ? What army was raised 1 

26. What fortresses were secured, and by whom ? 

27. What was done by the Provincial Congress of Massachusetts 1 

28. When and where did the second Continental Congress meet % What 
did they recommend ? 

29. What generals arrived with British troops ? What measure was 
now adopted 1 Who were excepted from the offer of pardon ? 

30. For what purpose was Colonel Prescott ordered to throw up a breast- 
work on Bunker Hill ? How far had the work proceeded before it was 
discovered ? 

31. With what force did General Howe make an attack on the works ? 
What is said of the defence of the Americans ? What losses were sus- 
tained on each side ? What was done by the British while their troops 
were advancing ? 

32. What measures were now adopted by Congress ? Who was chosen 
commander-in-chief of the army ? What is said of Washington ? Where 
did he establish his head-quarters ? 

33. What other chief officers were appointed ? 

34. Who were sent on an expedition to Canada? On whom did the 
chief command devolve ? 

35. What was accomplished by Arnold ? What was the issue of the 
attack on Quebec ? 

36. What took place in Virginia during these operations in the north 1 
What was done by Lord Dunmore ? 

37. From what other States were the royal governors expelled ? What 
were the adherents of Great Britain called ? What is said of them ? By 
whom was General Gage succeeded 1 

38. What is said of the American army investing Boston 1 What did 
Washington resolve to do in the latter part of the winter ? What measures 
were adopted ? 

39. What prevented Howe from attacking the works? What took 
place ? 

40. What attack was made by Sir Peter Parker ? What was the re- 
sult? ■" 

41. What was the effect produced in England by the news ot the battle 
of Bunker Hill ? What measures did the ministry adopt ? To what did 
the force destined to America amount? 

42. What had hitherto been the object of the controversy ? What did 
the Colonies now begin to think of doing ? What publication contributed 
to bring about a great change in the public mind ? By whom was the 



400 THE UNITED STATES. 

motion in Congress made for declaring the Colonies free and independent ? 
Of whom did the committee for preparing the Declaration consist ? How 
and when was the vote carried ? 
43. How does the Declaration conclude ? 



Section IV. 

1 . What did Washington suppose would be a favorite object with Gen- 
eral Howe ? What measure was adopted ? 

2. Whither did Sir William Howe sail, after evacuating Boston ? What 
soon after took place? What is said of the number of the British 
troops ? What of the American army ? 

3. What attempt was made to bring about a reconciliation? What 
terms were proposed ? What other occurrences took place ? 

4. Where did an engagement take place % By whom were the Ameri- 
cans commanded ? What were the issue and the losses 1 How was the 
retreat of the Americans effected ? 

5. What was Washington's next movement? What fort was reduced 
by Howe ? Of what were the British now possessed ? 

6. What retreat did Washington now make? What was now done 
by the British troops ? 

7. What was now the aspect of American affairs, and the state of the 
army? What other misfortunes had occurred? How large an army 
had Washington? What else took place unfavorable to the American 
cause ? 

8. What account is given of Washington's attack on Trenton? What 
was his next exploit ? What was the effect of these measures ? 

9. What measures did Congress adopt at this period? 

10. What was done by General Howe in March and April of 1777? 

11. Of what did the American army now consist? What measure 
was adopted by Howe? What movement was made by Washington? 
What battle followed ? What were the losses ? 

12. What was done by Howe after this battle? What account is 
given of the battle of Germantown ? What was then done by the Brit- 
ish army ? 

13. Who invaded the States through Canada ? What advantages did 
General Burgoyne gain ? 

14. For what purpose did he send a detachment to Bennington? What 
was the issue ? What took place on the Mohawk ? 

15. Where did Burgoyne encamp with his forces? Who had now 
the command of the American army in the north ? What losses were 
sustained in the battle of Stillwater ? How was the British army soon 
after situated ? 

16. What did Burgoyne do in this exigency? What measure was he 
next compelled to adopt ? What number was surrendered ? 

17. What was the effect of the surrender of Burgoyne? Who had 
been sent, in 1776, to France, to solicit assistance? What was their 
success ? What was done after the surrender of Burgoyne ? 

18. How were the British ministry affected by these events? What 
measures were adopted ? What was the issue ? 

19. Who succeeded General Howe as commander-in-chief of the Brit- 
ish army ? What did the British now determine to do ? What events 
followed ? 

20. How large was the French fleet under Count d'Estaing? What 
plan was now concerted ? What account is given of the engagement on 
Khode Island? What was done by the French fleet? What town 
was taken by the British in December ? 



THE UNITED STATES. 401 

21. What change was made in the theatre of the war in 1779 ? What 
is said of the operations ? By what were the exertions of the Americans 
enfeebled % 

22. What was done by Collier and Matthews ? What by Tryon? 

23. What account is given of the achievement of General Wayne ? 
Of General Lovell ? Of General Sullivan ? 

24. What measure was taken by General Lincoln'? What was the 
result ? What was the issue of the attack made on the English in Savan- 
nah? 

25. What State was the principal theatre of the war in 1780? What 
account is given of the siege of Charleston by Clinton 1 Who was left 
to command the British troops in the south ? 

26. What measures were taken to secure the obedience of the interior 
country to the British ? What events took place 1 

27. Who now took the command of the southern American army in 
place of General Lincoln? What account is given of the battle of 
Camden ? 

28. What French fleet and army arrived ? What is said of them ? 

29. What treacherous plot did General Arnold form ? What facts are 
related respecting Arnold ? How was his design frustrated ? 

30. What is said of Major Andre ? What became of Arnold ? 

31. What is said of the operations of the war in 1781? What was 
done by Arnold ? 

32. Who was now appointed to command the southern American 
army ? What is related respecting the battle of the Cow-Pens ? 

33. What account is given of the battle near Guilford court-house? 
What took place at Camden ? What account is given of the battle of 
Eutaw Springs? 

34. What course did Cornwallis take after the battle of Guilford? 
Where did he encamp and fortify himself ? 

35. What measure had been concerted by the American officers ? On 
whom was it finally resolved to make an attack ? How was Sir Henry 
Clinton prevented from sending assistance to Cornwallis ? 

36. What course did Washington now pursue? 

37. What measure was adopted by Clinton? What was done in Con- 
necticut ? 

38. What good news did Washington hear at Chester? What was 
the issue of the engagement between the English and French fleets ? To 
what did Washington's force now amount ? 

39. What was the effect of the attack of the Americans on the Brit- 
ish army ? When did Cornwallis propose a cessation of hostilities ? 
What was the number of prisoners that surrendered ? 

40. How was the news of this surrender received ? What expressions 
of gratitude were made by the army and by Congress ? 

41. What is said of the subsequent military operations ? What changes 
were made in the British cabinet and in the command of the British 
army? When were provisional articles of peace signed ? When, where, 
and by whom was the definitive treaty of peace concluded ? 

42. What is said of the war ? What did it cost Great Britain ? 



Section V. 

1. What difficulties arose when the American army was about to be 
disbanded ? To what expedient had Congress been driven ? How had 
the army been paid, and what was their condition ? 

2. Why had the officers remained quiet, and why were they now 
alarmed? What took place with regard to that portion stationed at 
Newburg ? 

34* 



402 THE UNITED STATES. 

3. What did Washington do at this crisis ? 

4. What effect had this speech upon the officers? What measures 
did Congress adopt ? 

5. In what manner did Washington resign his command ? 

6. After the return of peace, how was the government under the Arti- 
cles of Confederation found ? What was the state of the paper currency ? 

7. In what proportion to their nominal value were the army notes sold ? 
Who were the sufferers by this depreciation ? 

8. When and where did commissioners meet to form a system of 
commercial regulations ? What measure did they adopt % 

9. When did the delegates meet at Philadelphia 1 ? When was the 
Constitution unanimously agreed to by them ? What measure was then 
taken respecting it ? When was it ratified by eleven of the States ? By 
what States was it not at first adopted ? 

10. Who was unanimously chosen first president ? What is said of 
his journey to New York ? 

11. When was he inaugurated ? What is said of the ceremony'? 

12. How was the nation affected by this event? What is said of his 
qualifications ? Who was elected vice-president % Who were the other 
principal officers ? 

13. What beneficial effects were soon felt? 

14. Over whom did the Indians north of the Ohio obtain victories in 
1790 and 1791? Who routed them, and negotiated a treaty at Green- 
ville ? 

15. In what other difficulties were the United States now involved? 
What were the feelings of a large portion of the community ? What 
was the policy of Washington's administration ? 

16. What did Washington do near the end of the second term of his 
administration ? By whom was he succeeded ? 

17. What course was pursued by the French revolutionary govern- 
ment ? How did the American government act ? What soon after took 
place ? 

18. What particulars are mentioned respecting Washington's death? 
What effect was produced by the news? How was his death noticed 
throughout the country ? 

19. What parties arose at the time of the adoption of the Federal Con- 
stitution? How were they afterwards generally designated? How did 
these parties differ ? What is said of the treaty negotiated by Mr. Jay ? 

20. What measures of Mr. Adams's administration excited most dis- 
satisfaction ? What change took place in 1801 ? 



Section VI. 

1. What was the great measure of the first term of Mr. Jefferson's 
administration? What sum was paid for Louisiana? What is said 
of the history of Louisiana ? 

2. What was the state of the country when Mr. Jefferson became presi- 
dent ? What is said of parties, and of his reelection ? 

3. What is said of the war between Great Britain and France ? How 
was America affected by it ? 

4. What measure did the British government adopt in 1806? What 
did the French Berlin Decree declare? What was the effect of the 
British Orders in Council ? What was the import of Bonaparte's Milan 
Decree ? 

5. What measure was recommended by Mr. Jefferson, and adopted 
by Congress ? What was the design of this measure ? What was the 
effect ? What was substituted in its stead ? 



THE UNITED STATES, 403 

6. What was the condition of the trade of the United States ?. 

7. What species of injury did the United States suffer exclusively 
from Britain % What is said on this subject ? 

8. What complaint did the British make ? What is said of this prac- 
tice? 

9. To what vessels had the custom of searching for British seamen 
been confined % What account is given of the attack on the American 
frigate Chesapeake? 

10. How was this outrage regarded? What measures were adopted? 

11. By Avhom was Mr. Jefferson succeeded? What took place at the 
commencement of Mr. Madison's administration? What is related of 
Mr. Jackson ? Between what vessels of war did a rencounter take place ? 

12. Under Avhat circumstances did Congress meet in May, 1812 ? What 
did Mr. Madison state as the principal grounds of war ? 

13. How was the bill passed? What took place five days after the 
declaration ? 

14. On what ground did the minority oppose the war? How was it 
with the people ? 

15. Under what circumstances was the war commenced? 

16. What is related respecting General Hull's invasion of Canada? 
What is said of General Van Rensselaer's attempt ? 

17. What is said of the success of the Americans on the ocean? What 
naval victories were gained ? 

18. By whom was General Winchester defeated? What became of 
about 500 prisoners ? 

19. What is related of General Pike ? What of Colonel Dudley ? 

20. By whom were the British repulsed at Sackett's Harbor ? By whom 
was Fort George in Canada taken ? What followed ? 

21. What is related of Perry's achievement on Lake Erie? 

22. What was done by General Harrison ? What is stated respecting 
this action ? 

23. What is said of the preparations against Canada under Wilkinson 
and Hampton ? What villages were burnt ? What is related of Admiral 
Cockburn ? 

24. What naval engagements took place this year? 

25. What is said of the campaign of 1814? What is related of the 
battle of Chippewa ? What of the battle of Bridgewater ? 

26. With how large an army did Sir George Prevost advance to Platts- 
burg ? Who commanded the British naval force on Lake Champlain ? 
By whom was Downie defeated ? By whom was Sir George Prevost re 
pulsed ? What were the losses ? 

27. How numerous an army under General Ross landed in the Patux 
ent? What was accomplished by them? By whom was an attempt 
made on Baltimore ? What was the issue ? 

28. What naval operations took place ? 

29. What is said respecting the connection of this war with that which 
had been raging in Europe ? When and where was a treaty of peace 
signed ? 

30. What was done by the British while this negotiation was in progress ? 
By whom were the British repulsed ? What losses were sustained ? 

31. What was the condition of the Northeastern States in 1814? 
What was proposed by the legislature of Massachusetts? What con- 
vention met ? What was the result ? 

32. What is related of the treaty of Ghent ? What might occur in 
case Great Britain should be again engaged in a European war? 

33. What is said respecting war as a method of settling national dis- 
putes ? 

34. By whom was Mr. Madison succeeded? What is said of his 
reelection ? 



404 THE UNITED STATES 

35. What was the state of the country during Mr. Monroe's adminis- 
tration ? 

36. When, and for what sum, was Florida ceded to the United States ? 

37. What is said of the admission of the State of Missouri into the 
Union ? How did the bill pass ? What declaration accompanied it ? 

38. What is related of the visit of General Lafayette'? What was 
done for him by Congress ? 

39. By whom was Mr. Monroe succeeded? Who were the candidates 
for the presidency ? How many votes did each receive 1 

40. What was the state of the country during Mr. Adams's administra- 
tion ? What is said of the policy pursued ? 

41. What is related respecting the Cherokee and Creek Indians? 

42. What course did the Indians take ? What was afterwards done ? 

43. What is said of the new tariff law, and the principle of a pro- 
tective tariff? 

44. What is related respecting John Adams and Thomas Jefferson? 

Section VII. 

1. By whom was Mr. Adams succeeded? For what had General 
Jackson been distinguished ? 

2. By what was Jackson's administration signalized? What bills did 
he return with a veto ? 

3. What measures were adopted in South Carolina ? 

4. What was then done by President Jackson ? What by the governor 
of South Carolina ? What was the next measure of the president ? 

5. What afterwards took place, and what was the result ? 

6. What was done by President Jackson soon after he was elected for 
a second term? What course was taken by Mr. Duane and by Mr. 
Taney ? What was done by the Senate ? 

7. What is said of the difficulties with France? What was done by 
France ? 

8. What is related respecting the fire in New York ? 

9. What did the debt of the United States amount to in 1816 ? When 
was it all paid off? What surplus revenue was there in the treasury in 
1 837 ? What was done with it ? 

10. What is related respecting the Seminole Indians? What did the 
expenses of this war amount to ? 

11. By whom was Jackson succeeded? What is said of Mr. Van 
Buren ? 

12. What is said of the commercial revulsion, causes, and effects? 

13. What course did the banks take? What was the condition of the 
mercantile classes ? 

14. How was the government involved in the embarrassment ? What 
measures were taken by the president and by Congress ? When did the 
banks resume specie payment ? 

15. What is said of the rebellion in Canada ? What American citizens 
took part in it ? What was done by the president ? 

16. By whom was Mr. Van Buren succeeded? What is said of Gen- 
eral Harrison ? 

17. What is related respecting the election of Harrison? Who suc- 
ceeded to the presidency on the death of Harrison ? What is said of 
President Tyler ? 

18. What acts were passed by Congress in an extra session? What 
course was taken by the president ? What was the consequence ? 

19. What law was enacted in 1842 ? What is said of it? 

20. What is said respecting the northeastern boundary of the United 
States ? When and how was the matter adjusted ? 



THE UNITED STATES. 405 

21. What was one of the last measures of Mr. Tyler's administration? 
How was Texas annexed, and by what vote ? 

22. By whom was Tyler succeeded ? What is said of the election ? 

23. What measures were strongly favored by the party that supported 
Mr. Polk % What course did the president take ? 

24. What is said of the northwestern boundary ? How was the matter 
adjusted ? 

25. What tariff law was passed on the president's recommendation ? 

26. What did the war with Mexico grow out of? What is related re- 
specting Texas ? What was done by the Mexican minister ? 

27. What is said of the boundaries of Texas ? What were the boun- 
daries contended for by the different parties ? What took place on the 
disputed territory ? 

28. What was done by the legislature of Texas in 1845? What was 
then done 2 

29. Where was General Taylor with his army in March, 1846 ? Where 
was he ordered to proceed ? What were his next movements ? 

30. What is said of the Mexican force that was assembled % What was 
done by General Arista on the 24th of April ? What took place on the 
same day ? 

31. What was done a few days afterwards by the Mexicans and by 
General Taylor ? What was the result ? 

32. What is related of the battle of Palo Alto, and the losses ? 

33. What took place the following day ? What next followed ? 

34. What is said of the effect produced by the news of Captain Thorn- 
ton's disaster at Washington? What course did the president take? 
What did Congress do ? What did the whig members attempt to do ? 
By what vote did the bill pass ? 

35. What is said of the feeling against the war? What vote was 
passed by the House of Representatives ? 

36. How was General Taylor's force increased ? What measures were 
taken ? 

37. What is related respecting the attack on Monterey ? 

38. When was the city assaulted ? What was the result ? What next 
followed ? 

39. What is related respecting General Santa Anna? What course 
was it expected he would take ? What was done, and what was the re- 
sult? 

40. What course did the American government now resolve to take ? 
Who was ordered to take the chief command ? 

41. What is said respecting the armistice concluded by General Tay- 
lor ? What then followed ? What was done by General Scott ? 

42. What was now done by General Taylor ? What did he soon learn 
respecting Santa Anna ? What course did General Taylor then take ? 

43. What is related respecting the battle of Buena Vista? What 
were the losses on both sides ? 

44. What is related respecting General Scott's attack on Vera Cruz, 
and its result ? 

45. What course did the American army then take? What took 
place at Cerro Gordo ? 

46. What was the issue of this assault ? What were the losses of the 
Mexicans, and the Americans ? 

47. By what was the victory of Cerro Gordo followed ? What is said 
of the state of the army ? *,-.»*» 

48 When and with what force did General Scott march from Puebla ? 
What two battles were fought ? What is stated respecting the battle of 
Contreras ? What of Churubusco ? What does General Scott say of 
the achievements of the American army q 



406 THE UNITED STATES. 

49. What was the effect of these victories ? What course was then 
adopted ? 

50. What is said of Mr. Trist, and what was done by him ? What 
was the result, and what followed ? 

51. What military operation took place the following day? What was 
the loss on each side ? 

52. What is said of the storming of the fortress of Chapultepec ? What 
was then done by the Americans ? 

53. What was then done by the Mexican army, and by the Americans ? 

54. What was the total loss of General Scott's army in these battles ? 
What was the number of American troops that took the city of Mexico ? 

55. What expedition was conducted by General Kearny ? 

56. What is said of his march and conquest? What measures did 
he then adopt ? 

57 . What is related of Colonel Doniphan? What of the contest at 
Bracito ? 

58. What took place at the Pass of Sacramento ? What followed ? 

59. What is related respecting Colonel Fremont? What was done 
when the existence of the war with Mexico was heard of? 

60. What was done soon after the conquest of the city of Mexico by 
General Scott ? What was the result ? 

61. What provinces were ceded by Mexico to the United States? 
What does the territory acquired amount to ? 

62. What sum did the United States engage to pay to Mexico? 

63. What is said of the discovery of gold mines ? What consequence 
has followed this discovery ? 

64. What is said of the progress and issue of the war? What bene- 
ficial results may be hoped from it ? 

65. By whom was Mr. Polk succeeded ? What is said of the election ? 

TABLES. 

History of the United States. 

Which were some of the first settled colonies ? 

When was Virginia settled, and by whom ? New York ? &c. 

When was the Peace of Paris, and the end of the French war ? 

When did the Revolutionary War begin ? When was peace restored ? 

When was the Declaration of Independence ? When was the Constitu- 
tion adopted ? 

Who was the first president of the United States ? Who have been his 
successors ? 

When did Washington become president ? Adams ? &c. 

Events of the Revolutionary War. 

When was the Stamp Act passed ? What other events took place be- 
fore the meeting of the first Continental Congress ? 

When did the Revolutionary War begin ? 

What other events took place the same year ? 

When was the Declaration of Independence made ? 

What battles in 1776? In 1777? In 1778? In 1779? In 1780 * 
In 1781? 

When was the surrender at Saratoga ? At Yorktown ? 

When was peace with England, and independence acknowledged 7 



CHRONOLOGY. 407 



Chronology of Improvements, &c. 

When and where was the first college in the Colonies founded ? 

What other colleges were founded in the 17th century'? 

When and where was printing introduced into the Colonies ? 

When and where was the first newspaper published ? 

When and where was the first medical school established ? 

When and where was the first quarto Bible pi'inted ? 

When was the first census of the United States taken ? 

When was the first steamboat used on the Hudson ? 

When was the Erie Canal completed ? The Ohio Canal ? 

When were several important railroads opened? 

When was the use of the magnetic telegraph introduced ? 

Distinguished Americans. 

Most of the men enumerated in the Table, in the 17th century, and some 
of those in the 18th, were born in England. Some who are classed as 
warriors were known also as statesmen, and some classed as statesmen 
were likewise distinguished as military commanders. 

The persons enumerated in the fourth column were men of science or 
literature, physicians, historians, poets, artists, &c. 



Population of the United States. — Remarks. 

Which were the thirteen original States ? What States added ? 

Erom what, to what, number did the population of the United States 
increase from 1790 to 1840? 

Erom what, to what, number did the slaves increase in the same time ? 

In about how many years has the population doubled ? 

How many post-offices were in the United States in 1790? In 1848? 

When were the first considerable railroads for conveying passengers 
opened in the United States ? 

How many miles of railroad were in use in 1 849 ? 

CHRONOLOGY. 

What is chronology? What is said respecting eras ? 

1 . How did the Greeks compute time ? What is said of the Olym- 
piads ? 

2. How did the Romans reckon time ? How was their era designated ? 

3. What is said of the Christian era ? In what year of the world, ac- 
cording to different computations, did the birth of Christ take place ? Which 
is generally adopted in English literature ? When did computation from 
the Christian era begin to be used ? What is said of the Roman or Julian 
year ? How great a deviation from the true time had been occasioned 
in 1582 ? What was done by Pope Gregory XIII. ? When was the New 
Style first used in England ? What change was occasioned by it ? 

4. What is said of the era of the Hegira ? 

5. What era, next to the Christian era, is most used in this country? 

SACRED HISTORY. 

Of what do the historical parts of the Bible chiefly treat ? What is 
the other principal source of information respecting the ancient history of 
the Israelites ? When does the Old Testament history end ? 



408 SACRED HISTORY. 

What is said of the descent of the Israelites ? 

Why were they called Hebrews, Israelites, and Jews ? 

What is related respecting their residence in Egypt ? 

How long did they wander in the wilderness 1 

How long were they governed by Judges ? 

When was the most nourishing period of the monarchy ? 

How long did the sceptre of Judah continue in the family of David ? 

What is said of the tendency of the Israelites to idolatry 1 

What is said of the history of the Ten Tribes subsequent to their 
captivity by Shalmaneser ? When did the Jews return from Babylon ? 

By whom were they afterwards governed ? When were they subjected 
to the Romans ? When was Jerusalem destroyed ? 

Chronological Table of the Kingdoms or Israel and Judah. 

How long did the kingdom of Israel continue undivided ? How long 
did the kingdom of Judah continue ? 

What is said of Saul and his reign ? David ? Solomon ? 

How many years did Saul reign ? David ? &c. 

Who was the first king of Judah ? Who the last ? 

What is said of Rehoboam, or of his reign ? Abijah ? &c. 

What prophets flourished between 1100 and 1000 years B. C. ? 

Between 1000 and 900 ? Between 900 and 800 1 &c. 

Chronological Table of the Kingdom of Israel, or the 

Ten Tribes. 

How long did the kingdom of Israel continue 9 
Who was the first king 9 Who the last 9 

How long did Jeroboam I. reign 9 What is said of him and his reign ? 
Nadab 9 &c. 

What is said of the history of the Ten Tribes after their captivity? 



Eras of Modern History. 

This Table exhibits some of the most important eras in Modern His 
tory, but the chronology of the rise and fall of states and empires may 
be best learned from the Chart of History. 

When was the New Empire of the West formed 9 &c. 

What eras or events are mentioned in the 9th century ? The 10th ? &c. 

Chronological Table of Inventions. 

When was gunpowder invented 9 Printing 9 The solar system re- 
vived 9 The telescope invented ? Thermometer ? Logarithms 9 The 
steam-engine ? Inoculation ? Stereotype printing ? Vaccination % The 
steamboat % Railroads ? The magnetic telegraph ? 

What inventions or improvements were made in the 10th century? In 
the 11th? &c. 



THE END. 



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